Elena's Story
by I Swear On The Styx
Summary: The stupid thing is, I never expected to be told I was a demigod, to be Percy's sister, or to be complimented by a really HOT god. But with all the things that have happened in my life, I really should have. Apollo/OC and minor Dionysus/OC.
1. P1: I take a bath with the lake monster

**Hello! It's been a long time, and for that, I'm sorry. But it's going to be two years this October, and Whitney and I have been thinking about redoing this for a long time! So we're rewriting the original story, with mostly the same things, only a better writing and less plot holes. (And updates soon!)**

**For my new readers? I'm Riley, and this is half of the story. The other half is written by my co-author and best friend, Whitney (Emilie). This is the tale of me (Elena), had we been born in the universe of Percy Jackson. **

**This story is going to consist of three parts. Don't worry, it will all be in this fic. **

**Disclaimer:**** I **_**do not own**_** Percy Jackson. However, I do own the OC Elena, and my co author owns Emilie. **

**WARNING! There ARE spoilers for The Lost Hero series, so read with caution.**

**-xxx-**

**PART 1**

I always knew I was special. It wasn't that I was vain, or spoiled, or whatever, I just _knew_.

I tend to get rained out when I go swimming, which isn't that unusual, but I've always gotten the feeling that it's not just a coincidence, like the sky hates me or something. Which, admittedly, makes sense now, but seemed so irrational back then. And my mother- she couldn't give a shit about me. Sure, she gave me the basic things a person needs, but she's never _there_. She is always dating some stupid guy, who later breaks her heart. She never listens to my warnings. That's another thing- _warnings_. I always tend to know when something is going to happen, or if I talk about something, suddenly, its _everywhere_. Or I don't get attached to things if they don't last. It's always been weird like that.

Once, when I was young, possibly three or four, our apartment was broken into. I don't remember anything of the actual event, but when the police arrived the next morning, they found large scratches on the window and a pile of sand next to my bed. We moved the next afternoon.

The summer of seventh grade was unusual as well. There had been a lot of 'natural' disasters that seemed fishy to Emilie and I, and all of a sudden, her aunt took us down to Mexico for the holidays. Which, in any other family, would have been normal, but neither of us had ever left the city. And as we were leaving, we saw hordes of kids, who were our age or a little bit older, in full ancient battle armor charging down the streets after monsters. We were told we had an active imagination.

I never had many friends, either. Sure, I had a best friend for a year or so, but they would always leave me for someone better. Other than Emilie, of course. She's like me, really. No friends, dyslexia, ADD or ADHD or whatever, and… I don't know, there's always been something about her. Something that makes her _different_. I've know her for years, and it's like we're family. Much more so than our blood relations. Our dads left before we were born, or shortly thereafter, and my mom is well… you know. And her mom, she's in a _mental hospital_. It's not her fault, but still. So she lives with her aunt, Sammy.

Then hit fall of our second year in high school. That's when all the 'normality' ended. Stop. Pause. Whatever. Sure you want to keep reading? For everything I tell you is true. Every word. I'm not lying. Oh, and one more thing: I didn't believe in God. Still don't. No, what I believe in is _gods_.

-xxx-

"ERIC. GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE. I MEAN IT THIS TIME," I screamed across the field, as my friend Eric trudged over to me, carrying both of our weapons. Gods don't have DNA, so, well, he's kind of a relative. In a way. He was the son of a god. _Greek_ god. Turns out they're real. Every one of them.

Erik handed me my sword, a traditional Greek blade, made Celestial Bronze. It felt familiar and comfortable in my palm, the result of months of training. I swung it in front of me, slicing through the air, as if cutting through the enemy. Eric looked down at his own weapon to see if he had broken the string. He ran his hand over the curve of the bow, and plucked the string. A slight vibration reverberated through the bow, making it shutter for a brief moment, before the string pulled taught again. He pushed his sweaty blonde hair back in a futile attempt to move it from his eyes. It simply flopped back into place. I patted the pocket of my skinny jeans for a hairclip, pulling one from the right, and offering it to him. He snorted but took it anyway, pinning his hair to the side.

"Took you long enough," I grinned, "Ready to head over?" He nodded, so we sprinted over to a niche that fits the two of us, as we're nearly identical in body size. We crouched behind a large boulder, and waited. In a few moments, the alarm for the game of capture the flag went off. People suddenly were everywhere- slicing at other's chests, tumbling in heavy Greek armor, clashing blade against blade.

Erik had been at Camp Half-Blood for nearly two years, but he was only half as good as I was, when it came to this. He was good at long-distance fighting; being the son of Apollo had it's advantages and disadvantages, after all. This, apparently, was the latter. We'd taken to hiding out in this certain place until someone walked into our line of fire, either mine or his, after I saved his ass a few months ago from a horde of Ares campers. We weren't very close friends, but he was still nice to hang with.

I saw Emilie run by, brandishing her black and purple sword, kicking twelve year olds in the face, because that's pretty the only thing she can manage. Her long, wavy mahogany hair trailing behind her, her dark doe eyes gleaming as she strikes and evades. I smirk and stand from my crouching position, and head into the battle. I run almost head first into a Demeter girl, knocking her unconscious with the butt of my sword. She didn't have time to snake her vines around my ankles, pulling me down as I'd seen her do to others on my side. Neither Emilie or I had been claimed, so we didn't know what kind of strange powers we might have inherited from our parents. It was an exception to Percy's agreement, it seemed, because every other demigod had been claimed at twelve or thirteen, yet we, at sixteen, had been at camp for six months, with no word from our parents.

Knocking down a smaller Ares girl, I thought about who could have possibly been my godly parent. All of the women were out of the question, and as much as Emilie and I were alike, I was sure we weren't siblings. A shock to my chest brought me back out of my thoughts as a larger version on the little girl I was fighting came into view.

"Clarisse," I growled.

"_Elena," _she said, with distain. Three or four months ago, at dinner, I'd been discussing some of the old Greek stories with Eric, specifically the one about Ares and Aphrodite being caught in Hephaestus' golden net, when I'd stumbled over a crack in the pavilion and knocked my tray of food on Clarisse. Not the most original or elegant way to make someone despise you from the get-go.

I parried as she launched her attack. The tip managed to nick me, however, sending a shock up my arm. It reverberated through my entire body, in a wave of heat and jitters. I stumbled backwards, my ankle catching on a root, causing me to fall backwards, my head hitting the ground with a sickening crack. My vision blurred as Clarisse advanced towards me. I vaguely felt her grab the straps of my breastplate, and felt myself being dragged across the ground. The sound of campers fighting was at the back of my mind, but all I could think of was the splashing I heard behind me as I was being dragged into the lake. One final tug and I was pulled into the deep water, sinking quickly, paralyzed in part by being shocked and having a concussion, and part by fear. I was sinking, going deeper and deeper. I couldn't see, everything was murky. I started to thrash around, I couldn't get a grip as I sunk into the lake's depths. Water clouded my vision, and it felt as if I was being pulled to the bottom. I could see the girls of the lake peering at me with curiosity, yet none of them tried to help.

_I was three. My mother, who was holding my hand for the last time, brought me to the pool on our apartment's roof. The cement was cracked, the paint was fading, and it didn't have a lifeguard, but at the time, it was amazing. The walls looking over the side of the building were only a few feet high, but there was a chain link fence above that, which probably saved my life. All I remember, other than that image, was being taken to the water by my mother, and her hands holding me under. _

I was slowly gaining the consciousness that I was sure I was supposed to be loosing. Everything was becoming clearer, and nothing hurt. Then I realized how much time had passed. '_What the hell?'_

I stopped struggling, and looked around. I was at the bottom of the lake, except I could _see_. Just like as if I was on land. I went on a hunch, and took a slow breath in. The water filled my lungs but it felt as natural as breathing on land. '_Perhaps even more so_,' I thought. I touched my orange camp shirt, and to my wonder, it felt dry to the touch. Then it hit me. My dad. When I looked up, I could see it. The water was being illuminated by a glowing blue trident. I pushed off the bottom of the lake, and swam towards the surface.

When I broke the surface, people were arguing, or glancing worriedly towards the water. Percy was running towards the lake with a young girl I'd seen around camp, from the Hypnos cabin, who was awake for once. He reached the edge of the water and stared.

"Whoa," he said, and other people started to take notice of me breaking the surface, too. Emilie, who was arguing with Mr. D, looked over and raised an eyebrow, giving me a fond wink. Percy, regaining his thoughts, waded a few feet in the water, and held a had out to me. I gladly took it, and was pulled to shore.

The symbol was fading, but everyone had seen it. Percy put his arm around me, and grinned.

"Looks like Poseidon wasn't kidding, huh?" he said, then leaned in and whispered, "I was waiting for a sign. I'll see you in a little while." He released me, and maneuvered through the crowed.

"_Another_ one?" Mr. D said, and shook his head. He didn't look pleased.

A couple of people patted me on the shoulder, or hugged me. They were all looking relieved and excited.

"We though you were drowning!"

"….could'a claimed you earlier…"

"…can't believe it! _Two_ in one day?"

"Wait, what is going _on_?" I shouted, exasperated and tired of all the cryptic words.

"You were just claimed as a daughter of Poseidon," Chiron confirmed as he walked over to me, "and your friend, Emilie, was claimed as a child of Hades a few minutes ago."

"Really?" I said, but I didn't really have any doubts. Hades fit Emilie, it was more of a shock we _hadn't_ seen it earlier, "Why did they take so long to claim us? Didn't Percy- my brother- say they had to claim us?" Chiron paused for a moment, perhaps he didn't know either.

"Well, it might have been the reluctance to say they had broken their vows twice… and your weariness toward water may have played a part in it."

"Oh," I said, a bit embarrassed. If I had just fallen in the lake six months ago, I could have avoided this.

He nodded, "Alright! Now, everyone to the bonfire for the sing-a-long. Blue team won!" Chiron announced, and campers nodded, heading to the bonfire, tonight's color would be of excitement. I was patted on the back a few more times, being the child of one of the big three was something to respect. When nearly everyone had left, I spotted Emilie still sitting on the ground, her back against the tree.

I walked over, and squatted next to her, and brushed my short black hair out of my eyes.

"Hey. Heard your dad is the king of dead people," I said.

She smiled, and tried to get up, but grimaced. There was a shallow but long cut on her thigh, "And I guess your dad wasn't trying to drown you all these years," I scowled as she spoke.

"No, that was my mom," I said bitterly.

"So, you going to help me up, or should I call over the Apollo cabin? They're always looking for someone to fix."

-xxx-

Lying on my back, in my new bed, my eyes traced the room. No one could find Percy, but no one was really looking for him, either. At his age and status at camp, he could nearly get away with anything. Not that he didn't get in trouble anymore, it's just that he didn't get caught as often.

Earlier that night, after the bonfire, which I had spent singing along with Lou Ellen, a Hecate girl, Percy had snuck into the bonfire with Annabeth in hand, and no one seemed to notice. Afterwards, Conner and Travis dropped off my few belongings- literally dropped them off, they sent a parachute with my stuff- and as much as I liked the Hermes cabin, they were always taking my hair clips, and I was glad to have a little more space.

This cabin was a little more, well, me. There was a fountain in the back, often used by my brother to send Iris messages, and a lingering scent of the ocean.

-xxx-

I had a weird dream that night. It's not unusual for demigods to have weird dreams, but this one was different. It was as if my mother was convincing Poseidon to be with her she was being seductive and charming but had a wicked gleam in her eye, and my father was following her with a mindless gaze.

When I awoke, I thought it was as if she were using charmspeak, like the children of Aphrodite. Except my mother was mortal. So it _couldn't_ be charmspeak. But something stuck about the dream. Could my mother have actually tricked my father? _Could gods be tricked by mortals? I didn't know. I looked over and saw Percy sleeping, having finished whatever he had to do earlier. I would ask him in the morning, I decided. The sun hadn't even risen yet, so I fell back into a fitful sleep. _

_-xxx-_

"_ELENA. GET UP!" a voice screamed at me, groaning as I rolled over, "I MEAN IT."_

_Emilie._

_A muffled groan traveled from a few beds over, and some mumbled words I roughly made out to be 'tell your shadow to shut up.' I pulled the blue silk sheets and the down comforter back over my head. I didn't feel like getting up just yet- I wanted more time in the cabin. But Emilie wasn't the patient type. _

_-xxx-_


	2. Percy's egg-cellent announcement

**Disclaimer:**** I still don't own it. I own Elena though. **

-xxx-

Groaning, I swore I'd soundproof our cabin as soon as I got up. Which wouldn't have been for hours had it not been for Emilie. And who got up at six anyway? Well, it was seven, but it's all the same. We wanted sleep. Well, Percy did anyway. He didn't get back from wherever the hell he was until nine thirty, and then had to sit with us though several choruses of songs that never really get old, 'cuz no one had ever heard them before coming to camp. And I think there was something to do with the Fates eating socks. Percy seemed to get it, but I didn't know if I _wanted_ to.

Percy had been in a really good mood when he had finally reappeared with Annabeth the previous night. It was weird knowing he was my _brother_. He didn't really seem bitter knowing that our dad liked someone other than his mother, I think she was remarried anyway. Percy was just an all-around great guy. We also have another brother a Cyclopes. Tyson, I believe. I haven't met him, but he loves Percy, according to Annabeth.

Emilie seemed pleased knowing she was the only Hades kid at camp. There was also Nico, of course, who I had met only once, but he didn't like to stay in any one place for very long. He'd come back eventually, I supposed. Some of the other campers seemed to take it as a sign, having two children of the 'Big Three' claimed on the same day. The only question is- how the Hades did we survive so long? Leo and Piper, two of the senior counselors, both managed until they were about our age, but they had some freaky quest thing, involving saving Hera, so that might have counted for them.

Sometimes I secretly think that Hades might be an anti-Hypnos drug, as I don't think Emilie _ever _sleeps. I once woke up at five in the morning while at her house during a sleepover, and she was awake- even though I'd fallen asleep at three. And she _never_ looks tired. Even with her pale-as-death complexion. I, however, look a lot like my brother and father, with my nearly identical hair and green eyes, and somewhat of a lack of ability to stay tan.

"GET _UP_ ALREADY! I _WILL_ COME IN THERE!" I heard from outside. Percy rolled over and off the bed, and gasping as he hit the ground.

"If I kill her, will she come back?" The nineteen year old grumbled. I laughed.

"Probably. She always does," Percy raised an eyebrow but didn't ask. Wise boy. He grabbed an orange tee-shirt and a pair of jeans from one of the dressers, and headed for the bathroom.

"You can come in, Emilie. Percy's in the bathroom," I yelled. I heard the click of a lock, and the rush of running water as the sink or shower turned on.

"Is he naked?"

"Probably."

"I'm coming in," she announced. The door swung open to Emilie walking in like she owned the place. She glanced around, and not finding what she was looking for, looked back over at me. The spring bubbled loudly, and earned a glare from the daughter of death, which didn't stop it.

"So, I was thinking…" she said as she skirted around me, "Since we were claimed, we should go out. In celebration."

"Go… out?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes, out," she said, exasperatedly.

"Like…?" I prompted.

"Dancing! At a club!" she threw her arms up as to emphasize the words. "We had planned on going _before_, but now's our chance."

"Alrig-" I was cut off as Emile pulled me over to her. She, despite being shorter than I was, managed to pull me into the tango and parade me around the room. I still don't know how she did it, I was stronger than she was, anyway.

"See? _Fun_."

"I _know_ how to have fun, Emilie," she snorted.

"_Sure_ you do," I sighed. I wasn't going to win any argument with her. I saw Percy exiting the bathroom, looking like he might start scaling the wall in an attempt to leave the cabin, eyes not leaving my friend, "What's his problem?"

"He was probably afraid you might eat him or something."

"I sure _would_ eat him," I laughed as I heard my brother trip on his way out, and I suspected he heard what she said.

"That is my _brother_, I'll have you know."

"I know!"

"Uh huh."

"So do you actually want to go eat, or should we sit around in silence for the rest of the day?"

"I'm up for eating."

"Thought so. I'm starving."

"You're always starving."

-xxx-

"Alright! Everyone, pay attention! We have an announcement to make!" I heard my brother say, as I stuffed my face with waffles. I wasn't sure what kind of creature the eggs had come from, so I had given them to my father. He might appreciate them more than me.

Percy had stood up and pulled Annabeth over to him, despite her sitting a few tables over with her cabin mates, animatedly discussing projects from the laptop. Everyone had looked at him, as he was practically the camp's leader. Mr. D, who didn't look pleased, stared in the distance with a sour look on his face. I'd been told he'd been given a makeover by Aphrodite when his wife left him, so he appeared in his twenties, wearing Zebra-striped skinny jeans and a purple shirt, his dark curly hair running wild in the breeze.

"Annabeth and I are getting married!" Percy announced, and the crowed looked back in awe. It had taken a moment before sinking in. Then the Aphrodite table started cheering, even the tomboyish Piper. A few other people started as well, and whispers spread quickly among the campers of either gender. I'd heard that demigods didn't often get married, to other demigods especially, do to the misfortune of us being either killed at a young age, or having our godly parents' feuds drive us apart. Percy was one of the most well-loved campers, despite his initial fights with a few other cabins.

"So _that's_ what you were waiting for a sign for? To know Dad and Athens approved? Or at least that Dad approved?" I added, happy for my brother, and soon-to-be sister-in-law. He didn't get a chance to answer.

"Well, well, Peter Jonson and Anni Belle are getting married. Lovely isn't it?" Mr. D sneered.

Someone yelled from the happy campers, "Shut it, you old coot!" I had the feeling it was from the Aphrodite cabin. Mr. D didn't look pleased with that comment, and I heard a yelp coming from the direction of the table.

"You _will_ let her go,"

"Trying to charmspeak a god, are you, you little brat?"

"Keep it up, Piper! It's working!"

"Release her, _now_,"

"Why you-"

"JUST SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" A voice ripped though the crowed. Everyone was suddenly quiet, turning to stare at the dark-haired girl in awe. She quietly lowered herself back down on the bench, and continued eating waffles, similar to the ones I had abandoned minutes before.

A few people started whispering, and mumbling among themselves. Mr. D was grumbling to no one in particular. The poor girl had been released from the vines, and people reluctantly went back to eating. Percy, who was still standing up, kissed Annabeth, and parted ways with her. She sat back down among family, who congratulated her, or asked the details about the proposal. I didn't hear much of it, but it was after I almost-kind of-drowned. I made note to ask Percy about it later. He sat next to me, not eating the eggs or waffles still on his plate. He absentmindedly pushed the food around in circles.

"Contragulations," I mumbled, swallowing the last of my food. He grinned.

"Thanks."

"'Welcome."

-xxx-

"Mr. D could have totally strangled you back there."

"I would have risen from the dead and haunted him. His worst nightmare."

"Do gods sleep?"

"I don't really know. "I don't really know... wouldn't it suck if Hypnos or Morpheus couldn't?"

"Huh... I'll have to ask Chiron. You up for sword fighting practice?"

"… will there be any killing, foul-play, or help from others?"

"No?"

"Damn, I'm in anyway," Emile said as we trudged down the hill towards the arena. I shielded my eyes from the sun, looking up towards it. When I looked down, I was only a few inches from running into the son of the sun god.

"Whoa! Don't sneak up on me!" I said, and laughed as Eric cracked a grin. He was wearing several layers of armor, and if he wasn't Apollo's kid, I would have said he was scorched under there.

"_Technically_ I was here first."

"Well I was _born first."_

"_That doesn't work if you're younger than me."_

"_So?"_

"_It doesn't work." _

"_Whatever. So, where are you going, hot stuff?" He rolled his eyes at the nickname, which were a stunning sky blue._

"_I'm accompanying Alex on a quest!" He said, excited. I didn't know who Alex was, but I didn't want to ruin his fun by telling him that._

"_Congratulations!"_

"_Thanks."_

_I looked closely at him for a moment, then said, "Hey! You got your hair cut!" _

"_Oh, yeah! It was getting in my way, so…"_

"_Well it looks nice! And safe."_

"_Thanks. Oh, um, your friend is almost at the armory," he pointed out. I whipped around, and cursed under my breath._

"_Fuck, she's going to get the good armor! I'll see you in a few days!" I called behind me as I stared running down the hill. I tripped once or twice- Poseidon's kids aren't exactly known for their excellent balance on land- but managed to catch myself before landing on my face. _

_I got up, brushed myself off, and continued to walk down the hill with whatever dignity I had left. Emilie was struggling with a chest plate, unable to tie it herself. I rolled my eyes and took them from her hand. She crossed her arms and pouted. She sword was stabbed into the dirt next to her, while mine was strapped to my hip. I subtly glanced around the room before my eyes settled on the armor I preferred. It was on the top shelf. Neither of us, having lived in the Hermes cabin for half a year, had our own suit of armor. We'd been borrowing the armory's things for most of that time. I planned on making my own, more Poseidon-themed armor. _

_-xxx-_

_During free time, after lunch and more training with the Hermes cabin, I headed over to the Hephaestus's forges, seeing one of my swords were damaged when Clarisse knocked me into the water. There was a slim line cutting through the blade- in a shape nearly identical to Zeus' lightning bolt. It didn't look too serious, but I didn't want to take any chances._

_When I reached it, I saw my friend Nyssa with her hair held back, and leaning over a hot piece of metal. She heard my footsteps, and looked up. _

"_Hello, what do you want?" She asked. She wasn't being rude, it was the way most of the children of Hephaestus were. They weren't socially inclined people. And more often than not, people came to the forges for help than a friendly visit._

"_Here for free time! I'm going to attempt armor, and I have to fix this crack in my sword," I said, shifting my weight to my other leg. I never really agreed with heat, makes sense now, knowing my dad is the sea._

"_Jus' put it over there," She smiled, jerking her head behind her. "I'll get to your sword, don't want you to damage it or anything."_

"_Alright, thanks."_

"_No problem."_

_I looked over at the other campers who were on their way in, and headed in their direction. Hopefully I'd manage to get the armor right this time. _


	3. I accidentally make out with my cousin

**Oh my GODS Whitney and I were looking through these old A/Ns and she was reading mine dramatically aloud, so I started reading them here and I've just been giggling for the past few minutes. We've sorta decided to stop with the (awful) author's notes, but this month is a special occasion: the two-year anniversary of this story, and my sixteenth birthday. **

**Also- there's a good chance we'll be going to the real CHB this summer! The funny thing is, we'll both be sixteen, and it will be the summer before we turn seventeen- exactly how we wrote it in the story. **

**-xxx-**

I'd decided to never, ever listen to Emilie, ever again. For one thing, I'm not sure who she threatened to get us out of camp. I mean I _guess_ we could leave if we really wanted to, because camp is supposed to be a protection type of thing rather than confinement (not that we'd ever be here against our will, this is our _home. _We live here all year, and there's never been a place that's truly felt as ours' as Camp Half-Blood.) But I've heard that the harpies are released if we try to escape (which is totally counterproductive, in my opinion) and I've heard good things never happen to those that _do_ try to leave. So there I was, at a nightclub. At sixteen, with the creepiest best friend ever. Not the weirdest thing that's never happened, or by far the worst, but I think it could be border-lining on the most illegal. (If you didn't count killing monsters, which I didn't, despite what those new age harpies were screaming about, saying "monsters are people too.")

Emilie was talking to the man standing at the door, convincing him to let us inside. With the combined forces of the mist and her normal convincing attitude, we were allowed into the stifling room. Music pulsed, making the room feel alive, and with the additional heat of many bodies and strobe lights, my head spun. I hated my ADD. Emilie flashed me a smile and slipped her way through the crowed, having always been more socially inclined than I.

Deciding to move out of the entrance and on to the dance floor, I let go, and just had fun, and for once in the last six months, didn't worry about monsters and gods and surviving the day. I danced my way into a group of giggly, newly-minted twenty-one year olds who thought that alcohol was the greatest thing _ever_. I'd tasted it. It wasn't. Leaving them to grind on each other and their nearest neighbors, I stumbled over to the bar in search of Emilie. Weren't we supposed to be celebrating?

I, however, wasn't so lucky as to find her. Instead, I found myself staring at the _very_ large breasts of a curvy woman who had her arms wrapped around her date's like a snake. Her venomous smile and almost green-tinged hair further made me think of her as such.

"Watch where you're going, brat," she practically spat at me. I reeled back, as if her saliva was acid, and for all I knew, it could have been. My demigod training was starting to kick in when I recognized the man on her arm. His perfect features were highlighted by spiky blonde hair and electric eyes that I was positive were sky blue in the daylight. After all, I had seen them before on the faces of my friends.

"Apollo?" I asked hesitantly. His eyes widened almost an undeterminable amount, as if shocked someone recognized him.

"You're-" he started, and I saw gears turning in his mind for a few seconds, but then shook it off, gaining his normal composure, "Elena, right? Poseidon's little girl?" Apollo practically had to shout over the music.

"You _know_ this kid?" his girl said bitterly, sweeping her dyed-blonde hair off her shoulder. Apollo frowned, and shrugged off her arm.

"She's my cousin. I'd appreciate if you wouldn't insult my family," he narrowed his eyes at her, and she seemed to get the message and stalked off. Even if she hadn't known who he really was, a god's gaze was not something easily shrugged off. He laughed to himself a bit, but then looked up at me, and my breath caught in my throat. He was gorgeous, in a way mortals never could be. Everything about him was incredibly bright, like light danced off of him, or even came _from_ him. I wouldn't have been surprised, he was the god of light after all.

"So how _did _you recognize me? We've never met, I'm sure of it. I never forget a pretty face," he said with a smirk, and I found myself leaning onto the bar for support. That was so not how the night was supposed to have gone. But I liked it anyway. Flirting with a god had a dangerous glint to it.

"You look just like Eric," I told him, and he got this soft look in his eyes that I assumed was pride for his son.

"You know my son?" I rolled my eyes.

"There really aren't too many kids at camp, hot stuff."

"Does he know you're here? Without him?"

"That's the thing about sneaking out, you're not exactly supposed to tell anyone you're going," I said, wondering what he was thinking of. Then it hit me. Oh. _Oh. _"Oh gods no, Eric's just a friend. A very nice friend," I said, in case he thought I was insulting his son or something, "but a friend all the same."

He bit his lip as if he were deciding something, then, "Would you like to dance?"

"I'd like that," I said coyly, sounding more confident than I felt. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, thumping against my ribcage. I hoped one of Apollo's powers wasn't super hearing, but I could never tell with gods. We danced, knocking a few other people over, but laughing about it. At that moment, I decided Apollo was my second favorite god, only after my father. I wasn't going to say it aloud, of course, but with the way Apollo would look at me, it was almost if he could read my mind.

We were out of breath, laughing about something ridiculous, when we fell into seats at the bar. He ordered us drinks, blue stuff I hadn't caught the name of. I trusted that he didn't drug it or anything. I hadn't seen Emile in awhile, but I knew she could take care of herself, as she had been for nearly as long as I had known her. Reaching for my drink, my hand brushed against Apollo's. His skin was warmer than all the others in the room, warmer than mine. It had only dawned on me that perhaps the reason wasn't over exertion like I thought on the dance floor, but rather, his skin was always warmer than mortal's. Our eyes locked for a moment, but someone- I couldn't remember whether it was he or I- pulled their gaze away. The world started to get a bit fuzzy after the second drink, which wasn't blue, I noticed, but I accepted another one.

Apollo, I noticed, seemed to thrive here. He looked as if he fit in with the partying college students- he appeared no older than nineteen at the moment. Which was a little disconcerting, considering some of his children looked older than he did.

I suddenly felt sick, like I was going to throw up, but then it was gone. I tried to stand, but couldn't hardly see straight, and almost fell. He offered me his arm, which I gladly took. I apologized, but my words slurred slightly. He asked if I wanted to sit in one of the back tables, and I was happy to oblige. Strobe lights coupled with my lack of alcohol tolerance made depth perception off, causing me to stumbled once.

We sat down, and he continued drinking whatever the hell I had been consuming for the past hour. He was grinning, and looking out at the dancers. He'd told me he liked the music played nowadays; I used to play a flute, what the gods play, ironic, isn't it?- but I don't anymore. I glanced at the cup in his hand, and wondered how many drinks he had even had. Clearly a few with that girl, and at least four with me. Was he drunk? I couldn't tell. It didn't look like it, though.

Blue eyes met mine, and suddenly our lips were pressed together. My lips parted under his, and his tongue was warm in my mouth. Kissing him was so… _different_ from all the other guys I had kissed. It was electrifying. I could feel him smile against my lips as his arms snaked around my waist. The mystery drink had vanished. My arms wrapped around his neck, and we continued kissing. He tasted like spice and honey. It was a strange combination, but it was… enticing.

'_Whoa, I'm kissing a god._' I thought, amazed, with the stable part of my mind. And then I snapped back to reality. I was drunk and kissing a god, who was probably also drunk. _Someone_ would regret this later. I pulled back, releasing him.

"I'm sorry!" I said, jumping up, and rushing away. I turned back for only a second, but I immediately regretted it. The look on his face was of confusion and maybe a little bit of sadness. I spotted Emilie, sitting at the bar with a curly-haired man, and grabbed her, hoping she was sober enough to help me find camp.

It was a shame that I didn't remember gods can't get drunk.

-xxx-

Surprisingly, I didn't have much of a hangover the next morning. I assumed it was because I was a daughter of Poseidon and don't get dehydrated as easily as everyone else since the sea is part of me. My head just hurt a bit, and the sun was hiding, so I didn't have much to worry about. Percy was a little worried, even though he admitted to sneaking out more than a few times over the years, often with the Apollo cabin or Annabeth. I hadn't told him I met Apollo himself last night, and I wasn't sure if I would tell Emilie yet, either. She would work it out of me, eventually anyway.

I had almost missed breakfast, which was cereal, but Percy made me get up. He didn't want to miss eating before he and Annabeth went to see her dad. They hadn't made any wedding plans yet, but the Aphrodite cabin had their entire wedding planned out for _years_. They were going to have to change a few minor details, accounting for me and a few other, but I was sure they had already accounted for _every_ variable. The gods would all be invited of course, but only a few would come- Poseidon, Athena, Mr. D, and _maybe_ Hera, despite her and Annabeth's mutual dislike for one another. I had no doubt Aphrodite would come, and possibly Artemis, if she didn't want Thalia going alone. Providing she let Thalia go at all, considering it her vows.

I hadn't met the huntresses of Artemis yet, but their leader, other than Artemis herself, was Thalia. She was the sister of Jason, son of Jupiter, who sometimes came around, and a good friend of Percy and Annabeth. She had been revived from the tree that stood guard at the edge of camp a few years ago. Percy'd told me that the huntresses would be arriving in a few days, to stay for a short while, and putting cabin eight to use for once.

After breakfast (which was in fact cereal) and saying goodbye to my brother, I decided to talk with Emilie.

"_Yes_?" she asked, and I nearly jumped. She was getting good at the hiding-in-the-shadows thing.

"Er, hi. I wanted to talk about last night…." she flopped down on one of the few beds in her cabin, which didn't make a sound. To be honest, I think Hades had been _trying_ to make his cabin as sneaky as possible. She fiddled with the edge of one of the pillowcases, looking seemingly preoccupied as she spoke.

"So who was that guy, Elena?" her tone was slightly off.

"Huh?"

"That _guy_, Elena." It was clearer now, a mix of irritation and something like disapproval.

"Um. About that."

"Yes?" she asked, expectantly, looking at me. Her eyes were dark.

"It was Apollo," I said, biting my lip, waiting for her response. Her eyes narrowed.

"I.. see," she didn't sound surprised. But she rarely ever did.

"Yeah," I sighed, and fell back onto another bed. It didn't make a sound.

"So?"

"What?"

"What did you guys _do_?"

"We danced after he pushed some busty blonde away for insulting his cousin- that would be me- and we ended up making out. But that was the alcohol speaking. Or making out." I was rambling and I knew it, but I couldn't fins a way to make myself stop.

"Just making out?"

"Yeah...?"

She sighed and let her head fall back against the sheets, "I don't like it. Gods are risky business, you know. And Apollo... well... he's got quite the track record. I caught sight of you two, but I couldn't be sure, I've never met the guy. There's something about him that I don't like."

"Maybe it's because you're a child of Hades, and he's the sun god," I offered.

Her mouth opened, like she wanted to say something, but her nose wrinkled instead and she shook her head, curly hair twisting. "Yeah, maybe."

-xxx-

It was three days after Emilie and I got claimed, and two days since we went to that club, when Apollo sent me an Iris message. It was two in the morning on Wednesday, and Percy was still visiting Mr. and Mrs. Chase and Annabeth's little brothers. The message's beeping woke me up, and I looked around for a moment, bleary-eyed and confused at where I was. It took me a moment to realize I was in the Poseidon cabin, and then that the fountain was flashing. I stumbled out of bed and wondered who the hell was calling me, and answered the message.

"Hi! Sorry about calling so late, but gods don't ever really sleep- unless you count Hypnos and his gang, but then again..."

"'the hell, Apollo? S' two in the morning. Couldn't you have called when the sun was up, like normal gods?"

"That would be a problem, since I _am_ the sun, but maybe I should have…" he said, looking sheepish. Despite being two in the morning, he looked as hot as ever, while I looked… like I had crawled out of the pit of Tartarus. Great. I groaned.

"Well, now that I'm up, what exactly was the call for?" I was kneeling towards the fountain, almost to the point of falling in. The sea spray was misting me lightly, but I didn't mind. It was refreshing.

"I wanted to say, ah, sorry for… the other night."

"The kiss?" I asked, and I saw him nod though the mist. I couldn't tell exactly where he was, it was too blurry. "That's alright, we were drunk," I dismissed, tiredly. I noticed a brief flicker of some emotion in his eyes, but I didn't pay any attention to it.

"Right," he said slowly. "I'll let you get back to sleep. You look like you need it," he motioned towards me, to what I presumed was a general gesture to the way I looked, with a pale face and hair sticking out in all directions.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I mumbled, and he laughed.

"You still look pretty this early, though. You don't need many improvements."

"Should I be videotaping this? Or do you readily give out compliments to girls late at night? Because I was totally just complimented by a god. Wow no one is going to believe me," he smiled, but I noticed a twinge of sadness.

"We're really not that great," he sighed, and looked down, "It's more of a birthright than anything. We make too many mistakes; people like your brother- Percy Jackson- however, are the people who truly earned the right to be gods. Even more so, since he turned it down for love," I nodded. You couldn't do much about it, since the gods were your family, no matter how messed up that family was.

"He really does," I agreed, and stared down at the water, feeling calm.

"So, I guess I'll see you around?" I smiled, and he paused for a moment.

"I wish you goodnight,

Don't let the hellhounds bite you,

Or Zeus will smite you?" He flashed a brilliant smile at the haiku.

"That really, really sucked. As the god of haikus, you should be better at that," I laughed, "Goodnight, Apollo."

"It wasn't _that_ bad!" He whined.

"Yes it was. _Goodnight_, Apollo." I exited the message, and smiled.

-xxx-

It was about two-thirty when I fell asleep, and twelve thirty when I saw Apollo again. I walked past the Big House, where Mr. D was playing pinochle with a satyr, and saw him standing there, arguing with the other god. I couldn't hear it from where I was, but it didn't seem nice, and the satyr looked uncomfortable. A few campers stopped to stare at the pair. It wasn't everyday, or hardly ever at all, that a god other than Mr. D visited camp.

"Dad?" one younger Apollo cabin girls said, and dropped the heavy armor she was carrying. The Demeter girl she was following turned to her scowling, and tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh! I'm sorry!" She cried, and grabbed the breastplate, and a few other damaged pieces, and scuttled after the older girl who was already a good ways ahead of her.

Apollo turned, and smiled at his daughter, who was running away awkwardly, and blushing. At that moment, I realized that the gods weren't so simple after all. I didn't think that the gods were intentionally bad of parents, it was just who they were. They did care, but in different ways. Like when their child's back was turned away. My dad never contacted me, like he had Percy, but I didn't really mind. I don't think I could take it if I had another parent that didn't want me.

Apollo was back to arguing with the god of wine, who looked practically indifferent to the entire thing. The satyr who was playing with Mr. D was sneaking away, and was near the edge of the forest when a grapevine coiled around his hoof, dragging him back over to the arguing gods. I wanted to hear what they were talking about, so I tried to approach them under the guise of looking at the game. When I got within two feet, Mr. D turned and looked at me sharply.

"Go away, this is godly work," he waved his hand to say 'bug off', but I was unfazed. Apollo glanced at me, and turned back to Mr. D.

"Hey, Elena, sorry, about, you know," Mr. D raised an eyebrow subtly, looking at his cards.

"Oh? What exactly happened last night?" He asked, and Apollo scowled.

"That's none of your business. Now back to what we were discussing."

"Arguing," I piped up.

"Arguing, then," the sun god said, and waved it off. "She _can't_ come here!"

"She's supposed to. I can't stop it, especially if you won't tell me why," Dionysus droned on, waving the can of diet coke around. I could hear the coke sloshing around inside.

"I _wont_. But they can't come," Apollo said in an exasperated voice.

"Anyone care to tell the poor half-mortal what exactly we're talking about?" Mr. D rolled his eyes, and drank the last bit of coke.

"Ah, no, Eleanor, we can't. You'll see in a few days, any who."

"_Elena_."

"Whatever."

"_Fine_. I'll go beat it out of a satyr," I said, and the satyr, who was accompanying Mr. D in the clearly abandoned game, squeaked. I turned around and headed for the woods, I knew were they lived. I narrowed my eyes at him to show I knew it. "Bye, _Apollo_," I said pointedly at Mr. D.

"Well, well, quite an interesting development we have here," he called. I didn't stick around to find out what he'd meant by that.

-xxx-


	4. The moon and the sun pay us a visit

Within the week, Apollo had Iris messaged me six times, and claimed at least one on them was by accident. But I didn't believe him. Iris messages were so incredibly simple, even a drakon could do it! All one had to say was the name of the person or god, and where they were, and it connected. I didn't think it was even possible to make a mistake, unless it was Iris' fault. I'd have to ask Butch about it later. Speaking of which, do the Iris kids get free messages?

"Geez, you're going to have to stop calling me so early. I'm never going to get any sleep, and I'm running out of Drachma," I teased. The latter part was only half true. I'd received a few Drachma from my mother one birthday, and I thought they was pretty, so I'd kept them, and Percy had given me a few in case he needed to contact me. They were all at the bottom of the fountain, with others I assumed our father or the previous tenants had left.

"Oh, sorry," I blinked, and the next moment there were nearly a hundred Drachma in the fountain. I looked up, eyes wide, when I saw that the Iris message had disconnected. I was about to call out his name (in a futile attempt, I know) when I heard a knock on the door. I got up wearily, and made my way to the cabin's doors slowly. I grabbed my sword at the last minute, rather be safe than sorry. I grasped the handle tightly with my left hand, and opened the do to find- Apollo leaning on the door frame. "Not a problem now, huh? Although I usually interrupt sleeping patterns for a very different reason," he said with a sly smile.

"Wait! I didn't really mean it as- you didn't have to-" I started to protest, and despite my best efforts, a slight blush bloomed on my cheeks.

"It's no problem. I'm a god, remember? I have like, a zillion Drachma back home. And a flying sun chariot," Apollo said, pushing past me to enter the cabin. I entertained the idea of simply shutting the door in his face and telling him to come back in the morning with I was awake, and well, wearing clothes, but then thought better of it. I stepped to the side to let him pass, gesturing him inside.

"Are you _sure? _Aren't gods not supposed to directly help demigods?" I asked incredulously. I'd heard it was really bad to be indebted to a god. I placed my sword gingerly back on the ground. I figured that if he wanted to attack me, I couldn't stop him with a demigod weapon.

"We're supposed to not help our _kids_, so unless there's something you want to tell me, it's fine. But seriously, if I'm going to wake you up at two in the morning, I might as well pay for the messages. My house- or should I say palace?- is made entirely of gold. You should see it sometime. I inherited it from Helios when I took over his job," he said, looking around.

"What- really? That was a real place? I thought it was just a myth!"

He gave me a long incredulous look. "When has anything ever been 'just a myth'?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but snapped it shut. Since I'd been here, nothing had been just a myth.

I looked up and saw Apollo was at the door, holding it open. "Coming?" he said far too cheerfully for that early, and I felt like I was either going to fall asleep right there, or start banging my head on the floor. I might have done both, actually. I followed him out.

We walked for awhile, I wasn't sure for how long, until we reached the hill overlooking the water. We sat down and looked over the water. He looked up at the moon for a moment in silence, and then back at me. His legs were in front of him, almost held to his chest, with his arms wrapped around them loosely. He bumped his shoulder into mine, and we shared a look that made us both laugh.

We stayed out there all night, talking.

-xxx-

When I woke up for the second time that morning, I had the feeling something was going to go wrong. It was the first real bad feeling I'd gotten since arriving at camp, which was a _good_ thing, but still slightly disconcerting. I threw off the massive covers (which I used despite it being June) and noticed the bed that had been empty for the past week looked slept in, with an orange shirt that was definitely not mine thrown haphazardly over the edge of one the dressers. A backpack was on the floor with it's contents spilling out. I realized what that meant. The door swung open and in walked my brother.

"Percy!" I called, and threw my arms around him. "You weren't supposed to be back for another week!" he laughed and pried me off of him. I pulled back and looked him over. I frowned, "I hope nothing bad happened."

"Everything was fine, we only got mobbed by monsters twice!"

"What time did you get in? I didn't hear you!"

"Really really late. We didn't want to wake you."

"Well you should have!" I told him, and then lightly hit him on the arm.

"Ouch!" he yelped, and rubbed his arm, mumbling something about the women in his life. I smirked, satisfied. I grabbed an orange shirt of my own and a pair of shorts and made my way towards the bathroom to change. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Percy swoop down to pick up his misplaced belongings before breakfast.

-xxx-

As soon as we walked in to the mess hall, I noticed the twelve or so young girls, clad in silver clothing, sitting at the usually empty table of cabin eight. The Huntresses had arrived. Most of the girls were much younger than me, in their preteens. The oldest girl I could see wasn't sitting with the rest. Instead, she was sitting closely with Jason at Zeus' table. I realized, with her spiky black hair and electric blue eyes, she must have been Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Jason's older sister. I hadn't met any of the huntresses before, even Thalia who was a close friend of my brother, but it was obvious who they were. Their leader, Artemis, was nowhere to be seen, though.

Percy ran off to go see a friend or slay a leviathan or sacrifice himself to a titan (he wasn't really clear on what exactly he was doing when he left and told me to guard his plate with my life, so I took some creative liberties.) So, after giving part of my plate to my father, I sat down to eat. Someone cleared their voicce next to me. When I looked up, Thalia was standing over me. I gulped down the rest of my food. While I had heard nice things about her from Percy and Annabeth, I had heard some pretty scary things as well- some of which involved the silver bracelet that was dangling from her wrist at my eye level. Mr. D shot a glare in her direction, as we weren't supposed to go sit at other tables besides our assigned ones (although I suppose Thalia could have either chosen tables, eight or one).

"Hi. I'm Thalia."

"Elena Westlie," I said, quickly swallowing the rest of my bagel, and wiping my hand on my pants before offering it to her. She shook it and a slight shock zapped my arm. I leapt back, and fell over the bench onto the floor. She jumped up from the bench where she had taken a seat next to me and gasped.

"Sorry! I've been working on that, _dad," _she mumbled under her breath, and offered me her hand again. Wearily, I took it, but I wasn't zapped again.

"So, what are you guys going here?" Her eyes clouded over for a moment, then they retuned to normal. She looked worried.

"We usually check up on camp once in awhile if we're in the region, but this time… I came to talk to Percy."

"How long are you staying, exactly?" I asked.

"We're staying the week," I nodded.

"Well, Percy's around here somewhere! He should be back-" she was sitting to my left, leaning on the table with her elbow, and nibbling on Percy's bacon. She raised her eyebrows as if to say, 'Why not?' and so I figured, _why not? _and that she could probably scare even Percy, so I continued, "-sometime soon."

"I'll just wait right here then," she said, taking another bite.

-xxx-

It was almost nine when Percy finally arrived back at the mess hall, out of breath and slightly sweaty. He eyed his plate, and started to speak, "Hey! Who-" when he noticed who was sitting there. She crossed her legs and smirked at him. He broke into a grin. "Thalia!"

She stood up and clasped him on the shoulder, looking him in the eye, with a mock seriousness, "We're happy to say we've been expecting it for years, seaweed brain. Although Artemis is still a little peeved she couldn't have Annabeth."

He gaped at her, "What- did Annabeth tell you? We've only told-"

"All of camp, half of Camp Jupiter, and most of the mortal world?" she laughed and punched him, then leaned in for a quick hug. Her lips quirked upwards at the corner.

Percy groaned when he let her go, "My mom wanted to throw an engagement party to announce it!"

She let loose a burst of laughter, "Don't worry Percy, we'll all pretend we didn't know."

"That's what I was afraid of!"

"But- we need to talk about the real reason I'm here."

Percy sobered up, his mouth in a grim line. I looked between them, both of their faces hard, "Um, maybe I should go? If this is private?" I started, but Thalia put her hand on my shoulder.

"You can stay," she said, her face softening a bit, "this might-" she looked around, "this might involve you too."

"Yeah, Elena, you're part of this family," Percy told me. He looked towards Athena's table, where Annabeth looked up at the very moment he looked towards her. She seemed to sense what he was asking, and excusing herself from the table, walked over to our table. Percy wrapped his arm around her waist.

"We- the huntresses," Thalia began, " only came because of me. Or rather you two. I would have easily come alone, but Artemis didn't like that, so she sent all of us. It's regarding your wedding-" Annabeth and Percy exchanged weary looks at that, "you two should hurry it up and get hitched, or postpone it. Because there's a rumor in the north of something big happening soon. And we may need your help."

-xxx-

"Does every god on Olympus hate me?" I complained to my best friend, whose back was against mine. We were leaning against one of the larger trees, in the shade. Earlier, after Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth ran off the reminisce about the "bad old days" as they'd called it, I'd ran into Artemis- quite literally- who's cold, calculating eyes looked over me, before she turned away and continued on as if I had never existed in the first place. The first thing I'd done was tell Emilie about what Thalia had said, then told her about Artemis.

"No- I don't think Apollo does, and it would be pretty stupid if Poseidon did either."

"So everyone else?" I groaned.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"You really aren't any help, Emilie, you know that?"

"Well, if you _wanted_ someone to agree with your every answer, you should have gotten a satyr. They're scared out of their wits of you."

"I don't get why- I'm not _that_ scary!"

"Well there was that one time where you-"

"Okay! I get it! I freak out the satyrs!" I proclaimed.

"Ugh, I've got to go," Emilie complained as she got up, "My cabin has _'Winged Horseback Riding'" _she quoted with disgust, "Which is ridiculous, because _I'm the only one in my cabin_." I sighed when I couldn't hear here footsteps anymore. I had the sudden feeling of being watched, and I looked up into silvery-yellow eyes. A girl who couldn't be older than sixteen, with long brown hair was standing next to me, not casting a shadow.

On her beautiful young face was a frown, which I knew was pointed at me. She seemed to radiate a silver aura which made her seem almost fuzzy in the daylight. In the dark it must have been positively frightening. Her eyes peered over me.

"I fear saving you might not have been the best choice, child." Artemis' voice was intimidating, which was unexpected coming from such a young girl. Except she was a goddess in a façade of a teenager, and to her, every mortal is young.

"What?" I asked- everyone was giving me cryptic messages. Did they _want me to know what they were talking about? Or did they only want to let me know enough to know this was a threat?_

"_Now is not the time. Be weary of who you exchange words with, for they may be your last." She spoke. Was this a warning or a threat?_

"_Alright?" When I looked up, she was gone._

_-xxx-_

_The afternoon classes were cancelled, on account of the huntresses. They were to teach an extended, advanced archery class involving flaming arrows lit with Greek fire. While my archery skills weren't awful like some others, ahem, Percy, I wasn't as skilled as to not set the entire camp ablaze. I settled on normal arrows for awhile, mostly missing the bulls eye. After about half an hour I gave up and sat around with a bunch of other campers watching the huntresses and some skilled children of Apollo shoot arrows at the targets who were already lit up with bright green flames. The leader of this particular lesson was the oldest huntress I'd seen, about seventeen- Orhea was her name, I believe- with snow white hair in a braid down her back. Her eyes, focused on the target, were almost the exact color of the Greek fire. From what I'd heard, she was a huntress who still aged. _

_Looking around, I didn't see Thalia anywhere, so I went in search of her. _

_I found her telling Leo off about hitting on the huntresses- he often did that with pretty girls, but he was never really serious about it, I don't think. Love was a no-go with the huntresses, and they didn't get along well with hardly any of the boys nor Aphrodite cabin. Leo spotted me, and pointed, trying to ward Thalia's attention to someone else._

"_Take her instead! I'm too pretty to die!" He shouted, attempting to flee. Thalia turned around and shook her head._

"_You wanna test that out, Valdez?" She challenged, but let him go. She turned and walked over to me, who was greatly amused by the pleading counselor. "Yes?"_

"_Not joining in on the flaming arrows?"_

"_Not today," she shook her head. She looked down, patting her pockets, looking for something, When she found it, she reached into her pockets and pulled out a silver card. "Artemis put me in charge of recruiting… and we'd like to know if you would like to join us, as a huntress." _

"_What?"_

_She handed me the silver card, "We like strong demigods."_

"_I'll think about it," I said, both of us knowing I wouldn't, but she had to try anyway._

_-xxx-_

_Apollo didn't call that night, yet I woke up anyway._


	5. My brother teaches me waterbending

"Agh!" I screamed as the water crashed down on top of me, and my brother just sat there and laughed. I glared at him and tried again. "You were perfect at this weren't you?" I grumbled under my breath.

"Naturally. It's because I'm the coolest brother in existence."

"No, that'd have to be Nico. He can summon dead people. Which can be used to attack you," Percy laughed and pushed me in the water, and I landed in the sand on my butt, about waist deep. I started laughing, and felt the pull of summoning water, as I made the water spiral out of the lake and attack him. It hit, but he was dry an instant later, and summoning large waves to hit me. I would have been drenched had I not been Poseidon's daughter. I really should have done that on one of the Hephaestus kids- their dad can summon _fire._ Therefore, I win.

"Well, I'm _your_ coolest brother," He said, and leaned back on he shore, elbow-deep in sand.

"You're my _only _brother. You win that category by default."

"So?"

"Whatever! Just help me! What the Hades do I do? I'm not used to this!" I exclaimed. He was helping me with my control over water. As I tried, I remembered a few of the guys from the school I went to when I was twelve. They were mean and annoying, and mocked the fact I was afraid of getting in the water. They had pushed me into one of the showers in the locker room, and turned it on, trying to scare me. The funny thing is, it completely missed me. It hit them, scolding hot, and some of the other faucets malfunctioned as well. They couldn't tell anyone, because they had attacked me first, but they stayed away after that. Only now, I realize it wasn't a malfunction.

"Just, like, yeah! Like that!" He cheered me on as I _finally_ got the water to lift me. It must have taken thirty tries, but I got it, and I wasn't going to forget it anytime soon.

"I think I'm going to try breathing, or not breathing, underwater. So if I don't come back within ten minutes, you should probably come get me," I told him. He bit his lip and looked at me with concern. He told me that a few years ago, he hadn't liked the possibility of any siblings, but with Tyson and growing up, he'd come to realize that it might not be such a bad thing. Then I came along, and he found he liked having a permanent sibling after all. I'd countered with telling him about my mother. He'd then offered to share his with me.

"Are you sure? I- remember when I'd told you about Alaska? I'd experienced the same thing a few years ago after the quest for Camp Jupiter. It was horrible, and I still don't like the feeling of enclosed spaces. Water is our natural habitat, so it won't be so bad once you get there. But it's the getting there that's the problem."

"I remember. I- it can't be too bad right? Remember, ten minutes! If you don't, I'll get Emilie to help me come back from the dead and haunt you, for like, ever."

"You would ruin your brother's happiness like that?" He asked, mocking hurt, clutching his chest.

"Yes," I said and he laughed as I took a deep breath and descended into the water.

I had only to put my head underwater, and I resisted holding my breath like I had been taught to my entire life. When I was completely underwater, I didn't find myself panicking like I thought. The water was calming. I told the currents to bring me down to the bottom, and they did. When my feet touched the sandy bottom, I looked around. Fish were swimming, the naiads were braiding each other's hair, and the seaweed was swaying with the currents. I let out a deep breath, and found it to be calming. Nothing at all like when I was young.

Before the incident with the pool, I was fascinated with water. Any and every kind of water. Whether it was ice cubes, or the ocean, I was drawn to it. And now I realized why.

After a few minutes of messing with the currents, and talking with the fish, who, according to them, serve me, Lady Elena, I came back to the surface. Percy was chatting with one of the wood nymphs, Juniper, I think. She waved at me, and walked a few feet away, disappearing into the brush.

"So, you alright?" He called, and I nodded.

"I'm better than fine, I feel great. I think I'll be fine with this Daughter-of-the-Sea-God business!"

"Good, 'cuz you are _never_ getting rid of I,." He said as I drudged out of the water. I wasn't wet- a positive side effect of having epic powers.

"Gee, thanks. You make me feel _so _much better," I said, sarcasm evident in my voice.

"That's what I'm here for!" He said cheerfully.

"Actually, you're here to make sure I don't drown."

"_My_ sister? Drowning? Never!"

I hit him lightly on his arm, and he told me to try again, only concentrate harder this time. What if I wasn't good enough at this and Percy didn't want me either? I was starting to get anxious when I felt a tug in my gut. This tug was… different, I noticed. It didn't feel the same as when I was summoning water, and there was no rush of water in my ears, only a soft… rumbling? And the water wasn't moving. I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows, glaring at the water as if that would move it. But it stubbornly stayed there.

I was starting to get frustrated when the rumbling got increasingly louder. Nothing was working! I, frustrated almost to the point of crying, stomped my foot on the ground and- the earth shook, shaking trees and rocks and the water around us. Percy was knocked off balance and I heard the cry of campers, nymphs and satyrs. It was free choice, so camp residents were _everywhere_. I however, was still standing in place as the tremors stopped.

"What the Hades- Elena- was that- was that an _earthquake_?" Percy asked, stumbling over his words. I gaped at him.

"Um, I think?" I said, but when I saw the flabbergasted look on his face, I quickly realized, "Oh my god, did I do this?"

He quickly gained composure, and a grin spread across his face, "That was awesome. I can make hurricanes but never have I been able to do that. I guess you inherited the earth shaker ability. Can you do it again?"

I looked down at the ground that was shaking moments before, which looked so perfectly normal now. I tried calling up another one, but I just felt empty and tired, all my frustrations released into that massive burst. I tried stomping again, and them jumping but it was futile. I shook my head. He just patted me on my back and steered me towards the rest of camp.

-xxx-

As I was coming back from the beach, I passed the construction site for the Greek city Camp Half-Blood had decided to build, after seeing how many more Roman demigods survived than Greek, due to the fact they could live out their entire lives within the boundaries of camp. There were to be classic Greek apartments and fountains and restaurants. Schools and businesses and everything needed to live out a complete, modern Greek lifestyle, where demigods could grow old and have kids of their own. Percy and Annabeth had been one of the first to request an apartment of their own, even before Percy proposed, because as much as she loved her siblings, Annabeth wanted her own space, having lived with her siblings in her mother's cabin for years, and then at her home with her two half brothers from her dad's side.

It was decided that a demigod could leave his or her parent's cabin at age eighteen to live in the city, if he or she so chose. Some campers chose not to, despite being over eighteen, as they were nostalgic or didn't want to have an apartment or house to themselves, having been surrounded by siblings for a good part of their lives. The Stoll brothers had decided to open up their own, stereotypical Greek restaurant for laughs, and would live together above their restaurant. Other campers had already planned out stores they would open, and where they'd live, come the city's completion.

Some buildings were partially complete, and there were demigods working on them almost twenty-four seven, skipping activities to help build the city. The city was located at the edge of the North Woods, where a clearing had been made (with the Dryads' permission of course) and foundations had been lain. Athena's cabin, who had drawn the blueprint, had been working together with the Hephaestus cabin to build everything. Both cabins were working overtime, even if there was no set completion date. It didn't yet have a name, as we were waiting on a god to christen it, much like Athens had been.

Looking over the white buildings and cobblestones, I sighed at the magnificence of it all. I planned on living there eventually, if I managed to survive to adulthood, of course.

-xxx-

Gray eyes scanned the room. She had, of course, been in our cabin plenty of times, but Annabeth always found new shapes to trace in the ceiling with her eyes, or new texts to translate in her head, while her fiance messed with the fountain in the corner. Annabeth lounged on the foot of Percy's bed, claiming it was more comfortable than the others, and stared up at the ceiling. She had been running her hands through her hair when I walked in, her curls splayed out around her head on the mattress.

"There! I got it!" Percy called out triumphantly as I approached my own bed.

"Got what?" I asked, looking over from where I was putting our cabin's trident (which they allowed to be used as a javelin during beach time with the Nereids) down on my bed, along with sunscreen. It was free time, so I'd decided to come back to the cabin to clean up before dinner, rather than go play volleyball, which I didn't like too much. Our cabin, having only two occupants, looked pretty spotless. We'd pass inspection in the morning, but we wouldn't win any points for creativeness.

"The fountain wasn't spraying right- I couldn't get any Iris messages through."

"Oh," I commented, though I wasn't really paying attention.

"Yeah. Um, why are there like a hundred Drachma in here?" he asked, peering at the fountain. He picked up one of them, and held it towards the light coming from the door, which I hadn't closed. They all had Apollo's face on them.

"Apollo gave them to me," I said nonchalantly, looking through my dresser.

"Yeah, I can tell," Percy mumbled under his breath, tossing it back in the water, watching it sink to the bottom with a _plop_.

"You know Apollo?" Annabeth spoke, lifting herself up. I shrugged and shut the dresser, with a loud noise.

"I met him at a club a week and a half ago, with Emilie, and he Iris messaged me afterwards," Annabeth didn't look satisfied with the answer, she was smarter than that. She knew I wasn't saying everything. I wasn't going to tell them that we made out at the club. Especially Percy.

"Alright… but why are they here?" Percy asked, looking at me as I took a seat on the floor next to him.

"I was joking about running out of Drachma while talking to him, and he gave them to me. He wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, when I told him I didn't need them," I shook my head with a ghost of smile on my face.

"Don't get too attached to him," Annabeth warned, her face twisted into a frown as she leaned over the side of the bed. She didn't know how right she was.

"Hmm?"

"He's a known player…" She said, not really looking at us. "And he never settles down. He's not married for a reason." The words stung slightly, but this was all common knowledge. His cabin had the most campers.

"I know, I won't! He hasn't said anything to me in a few days, anyway, not since the huntresses were here," I told her, thinking I had probably talked to him more than some of his kids ever would.

"Talking with a god is risky business," Percy told us, knowingly. He knew from personal experience, "You never really know what they're going to do."

"If you're trying to be all big-brotherish, it's not working."

"Whatever."

"So are we going to message your mom, or are we going to discuss Percy's bad experiences with the gods?" Annabeth asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Message! I have to introduce her to Elena, too," Percy replied to his fiancé, leaning up to give her a quick kiss, and pulled one of the Drachma out of the fountain. "Sally Jackson, New York." The water flashed, and after a few moments, his mother's face appeared. She looked a lot like Percy, with kind eyes.

"Percy!" She said, smiling. A man was standing behind her, and I assumed he was her husband.

"Hey, mom," Percy said, I could tell he really loved her. Lucky boy.

"Oh! What did she say?" His mother asked, and Percy put on a sad expression, fighting a smile. She couldn't see Annabeth behind him, apparently.

"Oh, she refused… She told me she was in love with Mr. D, and therefore couldn't marry me," Percy sniffed, and I wondered how on earth his mother didn't see through it.

"I'm sorry, honey! Was she absolutely sure? Do you want to come home?" She asked, sympathetic, her face crestfallen.

"Oh no, it's fine," I said, unable to hold back. I draped my arms over my brother, and put my head on his shoulders. "Percy and I are getting married next week, the Queen herself is coming."

"Who are you, exactly?" She asked, confused.

"She's my new girlfriend, mom," Percy said, grinning. Even Annabeth was holding back laughter.

"What? Percy?" Annabeth got off the bed, and joined us in the message.

"Hi, Mrs. Jackson," She said, laughing.

"What's going on, Annabeth?" She asked sternly, "And I want a straight answer!" Annabeth grinned.

"I didn't say no, actually. And I find the idea that _anyone_ liking Mr. D is ridiculous, couldn't you have picked anyone better, Percy? Like Will?"

"Hey!" Percy objected, "Well, anyway, this is Elena, my half-sister. _Not_ my girlfriend."

Sally pursed her lips, "Nice to meet you, Elena. You should come visit me sometime, gods know Tyson does." She smiled, and I realized I wished she could have been my mother. Then my life would have been so much easier, and I would have somewhere to go to if I ever left camp. _And_ she was nice to her ex's other kids.

"I'd love that!" I said, pushing Percy and Annabeth out of the way.

"So, she really did accept the proposal?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, he asked when I was claimed."

"I see, so, do you have your eye on anyone, Elena?"

"Geez, trying to marry me off already? But, yeah, I think. He wouldn't ever see me that way, sadly."

"I'm sorry, message me if you ever want to talk- but I'm sure the Aphrodite cabin would give better advice that me- I fell for a god!" She laughed at herself, and looked behind her for something I didn't know.

"Ah, you might give better advice than you think. Or empathy at least. I'll let you talk to your son, and real future daughter-in-law now. Bye Mrs. Jackson!" I said, getting up.

I let the two of them have her to themselves while they discussed family things. I was about to head out of the cabin again, when Percy called me over to him.

"So, I got permission from Mr. D, wanna go visit dad with me, in a few days?" He asked, waiting for my answer.

"I'd like to, but… " I said, unsure. He voiced my fears, however.

"It's not that he doesn't love you, it's just that gods aren't supposed to interact with demigods. When I saved Olympus," he paused, and I thought how awesome it was to be the little sister of the famous Percy Jackson. And the daughter of a _god_, "he told me that he would have to claim my other siblings. At the time, I thought he was joking, and I didn't _want_ any siblings. I liked being special… but since I've met you, I don't really mind anymore, and I'm sure he was talking about you." He was looking at me, and I was really, really glad at that moment, that I had an older brother looking out for me.

"Thanks, Percy. We should go. Now go talk to your mom, before Annabeth decides to leave you because of something you did when you were four- like eating socks. Did it taste good?" I laughed, as Percy ran over to his family.

-xxx-

"_Hello?" a voice called from the dark. I couldn't pinpoint the voice to a name, but I __**knew**__ the voice. As if I had lost all my memories, and my best friend was talking to me. It evoked happy memories, like of the sea, and waves breaking on the shore. It was calming, if nothing else._

"_Who are you?" my voice echoed, and I was surprised when I could hear it. Then, a man came into view, clear like the ocean, and fuzzy around the edges like an old photograph. He looked just like me. Just like Percy. Or rather, we looked like him. He had tanner skin, however._

"_You don't recognize your own-" I cut him off, which I realized was a very rude thing to do, but I had to say it myself._

"_Father. Poseidon. God of the Sea," He smiled, but it wasn't an Apollo smile, or an Emilie smile. It was an Elena smile. It was wide and fatherly, and like he wasn't used to it, even though he used it often. It even reached his eyes._

"_That's me."_

_I had a million questions that I didn't voice, many regarding my mother. Offending a god was at the top of camp's 'What not to do' list. And that list was pretty darn big, if Mr. D had anything to do with it._

"_I've been watching you for a very long time," he said, and I could hear pride seeping into his voice._

"_Then… why wasn't I claimed? Like, before?" he looked away sheepishly, as if he was afraid he couldn't answer well enough._

"_I can't exactly say- Zeus forbids it. But the gods think you're part of a coming prophecy. Not all of us know about it, but many of us do. And those are the gods who, ah, don't exactly see eye to eye with me. Some of them want you out of the way." _

"_You wouldn't let them… would you?" I asked wearily. _

"_No, of course not. They can't touch any child of mine without my permission. And it seems you have another god or two on your side, as of recently," I didn't ask which god or gods he was talking about, but I was hoping it was Apollo. But… maybe he really didn't care either._

"_Why are they so sure it's me?" I asked. The last two prophecies were about my brother, and a few other powerful demigods. Certainly not me._

"_I haven't had a daughter in years, and you're the only one I have now," Okay. Maybe it was about a daughter of Poseidon?_

"_What does that mean?" _

"_It was about a daughter of mine."_

"_Oh. Why does that make them hate me? It couldn't have been as bad as the Titans, could it?" He shook his head, which relieved me. I was actually starting to like this guy._

"_I can-"_

"_Can't say. Got it. But… is it necessarily true?" I asked._

"_Not all the time- even the oracle cannot be accurate all the time. And sometimes, people change their own fate."_

"_Thanks… Dad." _

"_Good luck, Elena. Oh, and I expect to see you very soon. In person."_

The dream faded into colorless fields of dark. Another started. Then, I saw someone falling. They wouldn't stop, even though they were calling for help. Then, I saw another figure, laying dead on the ground, blood red stains on the earth. I couldn't see faces, only blood. Someone was screaming, and it might have been me. The sky was dark- no sun or moon, and the gods seemed to be in disarray. Something was very, very wrong. And it was entirely my fault.

I woke up screaming, and even after I told Percy I was fine, I couldn't stop shaking. I didn't fall asleep again, even though the sun was far from rising. _If it rose._

_-xxx-_


	6. I borrow some sunglasses

**Um okay you'll have to ask my thirteen-year-old self why I wanted to kill off all my OCs.**

-xxx-

"Are you _positive_ you don't want to come to breakfast?" Percy asked in a concerned voice. He knew there was something wrong because I _loved_ to eat, and breakfast was my favorite meal. He looked at me, still sitting in bed. The blue sheets were bunched up around my legs, still in place from when I woke up earlier this morning. It turned out the sun _did_ rise, which I was insanely grateful for. The dream, for some reason, was freaking me out, despite the calming effects of the cabin.

"Yes. I'm not hungry," I shook my head, not a total lie, but mostly, I just didn't want to go. I was staring blankly at the fountain, while my head ran through a hundred different scenarios of what my dream could possibly mean. I decided I wasn't going to dwell on it.

"Alright," he said hesitantly, glancing over his shoulder as he left the cabin. I sighed and sank back against the headboard. The ceiling was a gray color, I noticed absently, as if I hadn't already spent weeks looking up at it. I figured I should get up and go somewhere private while the other campers were all at breakfast. I quickly changed into another one of my many orange shirts, and a pair of shorts- might as well enjoy the sun while I can, I thought.

I, like every other camper, had pretty much been everywhere within the boundaries. Except, of course, throughout the seeming endless north woods. They were pretty dangerous, due to campers stocking the woods with monsters for games or tournaments or something, and then forgetting about them. You never know what you might stumble upon. Or what might stumble upon _you_. I passed a few satyrs who, thankfully, shrank away from me. They had heard the rumors, however exaggerated they might be, of what exactly I could do to a satyr when I wanted to. It wasn't _that_ bad! At least the satyr had lived that one time.

Despite the sun's usually incessant burning heat, I had always loved open fields with green grass and flowers. And luckily, Camp had a lot of them- being a training camp and all. Camp Jupiter, from what I had seen from the field trip we took during spring break, was a lot prettier. Which I found rather ironic, since they're a lot more uptight there.

The light warmth on my skin wasn't bad at this hour, but I knew within a few hours Apollo would ride his chariot higher in the sky and I'd regret not wearing sunscreen. Today, it seemed the sun would be bright, with the sky scattered with clouds that looked like cotton balls. The sky looked a darker blue than normal- it wasn't a menacing darkness, but rather a mirror of the sea, which I always found calming. It really sucked the god of the sky hated me.

I walked through the trees, avoiding stumps and holes that littered the ground. It had been around ten minutes of walking when I found a bright opening, and walked into a rather large field. Not many people came up this far, and it was usually during a capture the flag game. Because why would you want to go sit in an abandoned corner alone, in a forest full of monsters, when you could be with your amazing friends and siblings?

The grass wasn't more than a little taller than my knee, and a bright, summer green. A few daisies littered the ground, shooting up their energetic heads. They would like the Demeter kids. I plopped down, not bothering to look what I might have been sitting on. I lay back on the grass, with my arm under my head, watching the clouds as they passed by. I never knew any one who actually pointed out shapes of clouds like they did in the commercials, except for when they _really_ looked like something important.

I closed my eyes, as my skin was feeling a bit flushed from being out in the raw sunlight. I was really rethinking skipping breakfast and sunscreen at that moment. Then, a wave of cool rushed over me, as a shadow passed over the sun. I heard the humming of an ipod, and felt the shadow of a body standing over me. I opened one eye, and expected to see one of the other campers, temporarily forgetting technology disagrees with us, but instead saw Apollo's brilliantly white smile.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, dropping down to sit cross-legged next to me. He fussed with his shirt for a moment then looked up at me. He started to mess with a piece of grass, and sunglasses were perched on top of his head. I spread my arms out as far as I could to my sides, taking hold of a chunk of grass, pulling at it. Nothing came up except a few loose pieces of grass and a wilting flower, but I didn't really want to pull anything up. I would have had the nature spirits on me for weeks.

"Come here often?" I asked, remembering this silly conversation from when I was younger. I took one more look at the sky, where the clouds were hastily retreating to reveal an almost perfect horizon, and then turned my head to the right to face Apollo. He was plucking little bits of nature still, and at that moment, a dandelion.

"Nah, do you?"

"I _live_ here."

"_Right_ here? In this very plot of… grass stuff?" He said, looking at the ground, fighting a smile. He wasn't very good at it.

"Yeah I do. Do really should have knocked first," I said sarcastically, "You would have been a _horrible_ vampire, you know. Or like, house guest."

"What gave that away? Being the sun god or… I dunno, being the sun god?"

"Well _maybe_, and vampires are supposed to be polite. Like, _knocking_ before you invade my piece of land."

"And I suppose you know quite a bit about this, don't you," Apollo mused.

"I know my mythology," I told him, glancing at the sky, "Of course I was a big Greek fan before I knew any of this," I gestured to him and the rest of camp, "was real."

"_Was_ a fan?" he asked, eyes dancing with amusement. "Are we not entertaining enough for you?" he poked me with a piece of grass, it tickled, and I snorted.

"It's not mythology anymore, now is it, your godliness?"

"I suppose not," he looked a me, and I figured I was probably still red. Despite… _liking_ him a little, rather than feeling embarrassed or shy when talking to him, it felt natural. I noticed the sunglasses on top of his head. He's a god, the _sun_ god, he doesn't really need them, right? I reached up and grabbed them before he knew what'd happened. I put them on, and everything went darker.

"Hey! Give em' back, you little thief!" He said playfully, and tried to reach for them, but I scooted out of reach.

"No! Finders keepers!" I giggled, and bit my lip. He lowered his eyes, and I figured he was planning something.

"You haven't been hanging around Hermes, have you?"

"No! His kids steal my hair ties!" I protested. He laughed, looking over at me, and lunged, toppling over onto me. I hardly had time to react, but I was, playfully, fighting for dominance. I rolled over and managed to get on top of him, his hands on my waist, mine on either side of his head. I pushed up the sunglasses to the top of my head, and realized I was only a few inches from his mouth again. I was breathing his air, and our eyes were lock. I sucked in a breath and asked, "What _is _this?" he knew I wasn't talking about sunglasses or Hermes. I was talking about this whole situation we seemed to be in.

"I don't know," he said so softly that it was almost a whisper. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back onto the grass. I rolled off of him onto the grass, and sat cross legged near his head, playing with his hair in silence for a little while. I plucked a few Queen Anne's Lace and Forget-Me-Nots, along with a few other little flowers I didn't recognize, and stuck them behind his ears. I placed a few in my own hair. He seemed content to lay in silence, and I didn't mind, so we did.

He eventually clasped his hands over his stomach and looked up at the sky. I glanced up to see what he was looking at, but it appeared to be nothing in particular.

"It's sunny. Could you change that?" I asked.

"Yes, but would you want me to?"

"No, not really. It's nice."

"They look nice on you," The sun god commented on the sunglasses that still rested on the top of my head.

"I'm sure they look much better on you," I told him, "If you don't mind me saying, though… You seemed different than I thought you would be."

"How so?" he asked, pulling apart a flower's petals one at a time, reminding me of the 'he loves me, he loves me not' game.

"I'm not sure, anymore. You seemed unapproachable, unattainable, and so very distant, like all the gods. And, well, my friend said you were a bit of a temple harlot," I snorted at Emilie's choice of words, and looked down at the flowers in my hands, "I don't know if I believe the latter right now, despite the myths," I searched his gorgeous, tanned face. He wasn't looking at me.

"It's true, though."

"Which part?"

"Both, really, but especially the latter. Although, I've seemed to have my mind stuck on one particular person right now." My heart went cold. He wouldn't have been talking about me, would he? He was probably head over heels for some starlet who would flash her dazzling smile and flaunt her curves and he'd waltz over and they'd be the envy of the party, if not the world. Because a god like Apollo could have _anyone_. And anyone who could have anyone surely didn't want me. Despite these… whatever they were.

"Oh, well, good luck with that," I said, smiling, but he was the god of truth as well, and I prayed to Poseidon that he couldn't see the lie. He didn't look up, but sighed.

"I may not be so lucky with her… Oh and was this friend who called me a _temple harlot_, about three foot nothing'?" I raised an eyebrow, only knowing one person who would be referred to that way, even if she was a _little_ taller than that.

"Uh, no, why exactly would she?" I asked, accusingly. "You didn't attempt to hit on her, did you? She _honestly_ beat up the last creep who did. Not saying you're a creep or anything, but you aren't exactly her type."

"Nah, she was cursing at me the other day."

"Can I ask why?"

"Nope. Ask little miss sunshine herself."

"Can't do that- I'm avoiding the entire camp population."

"And why is that?" He prodded, seeming interested. He poked me with another strand of grass.

"My dad said something about a prophecy, and I had- I had a really weird dream last night," I told him, and he looked away. I wasn't sure why, but a look of displeasure crossed his face. Did he hate me too? He took a moment to reply.

"How much do you know?" he asked slowly, blue eyes not meeting mine.

"Not much. I think I mess up some stuff, and people die. But that's run of the mill stuff, isn't it?" I said, not stopping to breathe. Another cloud passed across the sun, causing temporary shade.

"Not much, then."

"So… are you on my side, or should I be running?" I asked, not sure whether I was joking or not, I sighed.

"Definitely on your side. The others really should lighten up," he said cheerfully, but it seemed almost forced.

"Thanks. What were you listening to?" I asked, peering at the ipod I had heard earlier.

"It's one of the ol-" he started, but was interrupted by a blaring horn. It wasn't a happy tune at all. It was the horn blown when someone was killed. I felt all the heat leave my body. Some kid wouldn't ever get to get married, or have kids of his or her own. They wouldn't get to see their mortal, or immortal, parent ever again. There was good chance I knew this person, one of my friends was dead. I gasped. What if it was Emilie, or Percy, or Annabeth?

We were on a steep hill, surrounded by trees, but there was an opening that overlooked camp. I quickly got up, and ran over to it. Apollo stood up as well, but he didn't follow. His face was grim. The flowers that I placed in his hair were tumbling to the ground. It felt like an omen. I looked towards the entrance of camp and I saw three figures stumbling into camp. It looked like they were just getting back from their quest, the one Eric had been on. One was limping, the other was carrying the third, the deceased one. I pushed the sunglasses higher up on my head. Then I saw the blonde hair.

"Oh… oh my gods. It's Eric. He's dead," I gasped, and turned around. Where Apollo had been standing before was now empty, and the sun was retreating behind fast-approaching rain clouds. A son of the sun was dead, and he wasn't coming back.

-xxx-

The burning of his body and shroud seemed to drag on forever, when everyone just wanted it over. The smoke was black, and the cloth draped on his box was yellow, like the sun, with a lyre embroidered on it. One other camper had died while we were at camp, some girl had been killed by a monster, in our early days at camp. I didn't remember much about it, but even then I felt sad. But now this was… heartbreaking.

I was crying, and I'm sure my cheeks were stained red. I saw a lot of his siblings hugging one another, and one of the Hermes girls started crying- he'd pointed her out to me, saying she was the first friend he made here, before he was claimed. He hadn't minded being stuck in the Hermes cabin- that was another thing about him. He was one of the nicest guys at camp. He really didn't _mind_ anything. And I really wished I had been a closer friend to him. I hated that about death, there are so many regrets and you didn't even realize you would have them until the person was gone. Their soul was still in the underworld, but it's not the same. All I could hope for was that he achieved Elysium.

It was over as quickly as it began, and it wasn't even noon yet. The campers were moping, or wandering around in a daze. No one seemed to care that other activities were planned, other than the few kids who took out their frustrations on dummies in armor or by splitting ten arrows in a row on a target. It seemed the past two or three years had lulled the world into thinking there wouldn't be death, or sacrifice, or anything horrible anymore, and we'd just gotten a rude awakening.

I avoided the Apollo group, and that Hermes girl as I made my way to the Hades cabin. Although not the most opportune moment to realize it, there seemed to be a lot of gods and goddesses starting with 'A' and 'H's. I knocked on the door, as I was sure she was in there. She hardly ever attends classes, and she can get away with it, mostly, because she's the only one in her cabin, so she dictates her own activities. Chiron gets on her about it, but Mr. D doesn't really care.

"Emilie? You in there?" I called.

There was a groan from the other side, and I heard the door unlocking and slowly creeping open. From what I could see, Emilie was draped across her bed, which was the bottom bunk in the corner. The walls were a dark charcoal, with blackwood floors and a high, peaked ceiling that changes elevation like triangles. The furniture appeared to be made solely of shiny onyx and glass, with red, and surprisingly, white highlights. The area near her bed, since she lived alone, was littered with colorful clothes and armor and teenage girl stuff that seemed relatively normal in contrast to the slightly depressing colors. I sat down across from her, rubbing my eyes.

"Did you go? Eric…" I had stopped crying earlier, but it was difficult to think of him as dead, it was so… unreal. She shook her head.

"I deal with enough death already. And you know Eric and I weren't the best of friends," she said calmly, sitting on the edge of her bed. Then I noticed her skin color. It was dark. Like she had been badly sunburned. "I'm not attuned to death as... well, as I could be. I haven't met my dad or my brother or anyone that could teach me anything, and I don't know how to control it. Chiron told me to stay in my cabin for a while, since Mr. D kicked me out of the Big House," she paused, looking around with an odd look on her face. "But anyway, I don't think Eric's siblings would take too kindly to a child of Hades attending the funeral. It'd be like the Grim Reaper visiting."

"Did you curse Apollo, giving him reason to give you a sunburn?" I accused, thinking of my earlier encounter with Apollo.

"No, no, curse isn't the right word. I didn't even yell at him, I just bad-mouthed him under my breath. I didn't know he'd be _listening_. He burned me, sort of, some nectar fixed that, though. Now I just have this ridiculous tan."

"I'm going to _get_ him!" I told her. She raised an eyebrow, looking amused.

"Oh, now are you? Fighting fire with fire never works."

"That's why I'm fighting fire with _water,_ idiot!" I turned to head out- this whole thing was just making me dizzy. I felt I had to do something or I'd break out crying again- when Emilie grabbed me by the wrist.

She shook her head, and said, "Will you just sit down for a minute?" and I did.. "Are you alright?" she asked. I shook my head.

-xxx-

I'd never called Apollo myself before, but it couldn't be that bad, right? Percy was elsewhere, which I was grateful for, so I had the cabin to myself. I was sitting cross legged on the floor next to the fountain, and I picked up a drachma, tossing it through the mist.

"Apollo, Mt. Olympus?" I said, guessing that he'd be there, since the sun wasn't out, and I didn't actually know where he lived. After a moment, he appeared in the mist. It looked like he was right there in front of me. I studied him closely. I couldn't tell if his eyes were actually red or if it was a figment of my imagination.

"Well, this is unusual," he mused, leaning on his elbow. Although I couldn't tell exactly where he was, it looked like he was sitting, and I wondered if he was in the throne room.

"It's not _that_ strange for me to message you!" he chuckled, and I glared at him.

"Yes, yes, so what do I owe the pleasure of you messaging me?"

"I wanted to say I'm really, really sorry about Eric. He was my friend, but he was your _son_. It doesn't matter how many of them you have."

He tilted his head down, and if I wasn't mistaken, his eyes were getting red again. The words appeared stuck in his throat, and, in any other situation, it might have been funny due to him being the god of poetry, but this was almost enough to make me start crying again. He nodded. Oh gods, _Eric_… I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand again.

"And, Emilie," I said, trying to change the subject. He looked grateful.

"The annoying Hades girl?"

"_Yes_. You gave her a _sunburn_!"

"She was yelling at me. Technically, its her fault," I crossed my arms and looked at him pointedly.

"Don't _do_ that!" I said, before I could stop myself. Yelling at a god was _bad_ news. He looked cross for a moment, but then his features softened. "Sorry…" I winced.

"That's alright, we're all a little snappish right now, with everything…" he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "And I probably shouldn't be burning my friends' best friends anyway," my eyes shot up. I was his friend?

"I'm your friend?" I blurted before I could stop myself, unsure if he was talking about me or not.

"Huh? Yeah, thought it was obvious," a smile slowly made it's way across my lips. Maybe I had a chance after all.

"Oh," I said, and ran my fingers through my hair. When I touched the top of my head, I found the sunglasses I had taken from Apollo. I had forgotten about them in the chaos. "_Gods_! You're horrible about leaving stuff, aren't you? Well, the drachma were on purpose. I'm gonna have a drawer full of your stuff if you keep coming around. You forgot your sunglasses!"

"'_Flash forward and we're takin' on the world together, and there's a drawer full of my things at your place,'" _he sang, and I just about laughed. Of all the things he could have sang, it was a Taylor Swift song.

"Oh my gods, Apollo," I said, and rolled my eyes.

"Well it fit, didn't it? You should know by now that I'm the god of music," he boasted, waving around his ipod. He didn't see where he was waving it when, with a sharp _crack_, the ipod hit the chair's armrest. He looked down at it surprise and looked at it sheepishly. He put it back in his pocket. "Don't tell anyone, I borrowed that one."

"Well you sang that better than she ever did, I can tell you that."

"Why thank you. I take pride in singing love songs to teenagers in the middle of the day."

"You're probably every teenager's dream right now," I told him.

"Only right now?"

"Maybe," he was quiet for a moment.

"He liked you, you know. _Liked you."_

"_Who?" I asked, confused. I was pretty sure I had never met Taylor Swift, and that she, in fact, was female._

"_Eric," he told me, "I was feeling guilty about being around you when I knew what it meant to him, but I just couldn't stop," I didn't have time to dwell on what that meant, "He was a happy kid. Never blamed me for anything." I thought about how some of the kids blamed their godly parent for their entire lives being ruined. I personally thought it was stupid. Fight back._

"_You're not going to leave, are you?" I asked, in a small voice. It felt nice to have friends, especially since I just lost one of them._

"_I won't leave just yet. I have to come back for those sunglasses."_

_-xxx-_


	7. I meet my OTHER family

"…But _why?_"

"Because I said so. So stop wasting my time," he bushed them off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"_Honestly_," she said exasperatedly. "You need to have more fun, Mr. D!" another of the Aphrodite girls piped up. I didn't mean to overhear their conversation- okay, that was a bit of a lie, but who didn't want to know why half the Aphrodite cabin had been looking at Mr. D expectantly all through breakfast? Then they approached him afterwards, while everyone was clearing out. I knew whatever it was had to be good, so I lingered after everyone, with a flimsy excuse of not being quite finished. Percy gave me an incredulous look, and I didn't blame him, but he left wearily. The Aphrodite cabin, a few other stragglers, and I were the few left in the pavilion. Mr. D looked cross, and clearly like he didn't want to budge on whatever they wanted. I hadn't heard the whole conversation, as they started it when everyone was still clearing out, and the pavilion was still roaring with chatter, so I wasn't entirely sure what it was they were asking for.

"No. And that's final," he said, crossing his arms sourly, turning to walk away. Emilie, who I figured was in on the conversation, jumped up, and walking past the girls and boys, caught up to Mr. D. She put her hands behind her back in feigned nonchalance and walked alongside him. Their voices were slightly muffled at this distance, but I wasn't exactly supposed to be listening, so I stuck it out.

"I think it could be fun," Emilie said, and her voice lowered, muttering something to him that I couldn't hear, but it seemed to be important. He hesitated, and though he didn't look very happy about it, he turned around to glare at the Aphrodite campers who seemed to be holding their breaths.

"I've changed my mind, you can have your stupid party wherever you want," his voice tinged with slight annoyance and disgust. At that, the cabin started to cheer. They just _loved_ getting their way, didn't they? Something clicked in my head. Mr. D was getting a soft spot for a certain camper... Emilie of all people?

-xxx-

"LISTEN UP, CAMPERS!" Drew shouted, gaining the attention of everyone at lunch. She climbed up to stand on one of the tables, helped up by two of the surrounding tables' boys, who she awarded a sickly-sweet smile to. The rest of the table quickly joined her, either standing on the table as well, or on the benches. Well. We seemed to be getting quite a few announcements from the campers this summer. I figured this one wasn't going to be quite as eventful or expected as the last, but one never knew at camp. Things were constantly changing. She held the entire camp's attention, which seemed to please her. A slight smirk graced her lips. She'd been using charmspeak to compel her words, and I felt myself drawn in, making me listen.

"We're going to have a beach bash!" Piper said cheerfully, throwing an arm around her half-sister, who leaned into the touch. From what I'd seen, they had actually become friends, however much they liked to deny it, since Piper had taken over the cabin. Or little pink house-thing.

My pizza was halfway to my mouth, and Percy started choking on his. I had to hit him on the back a few times, and he, coughing, reached for his drink. Taking a sip of his blue drink- blue coke I believe, or was it blue cherry coke?- he stopped choking. I wasn't sure how different the bash would be from normal beach time with the nymphs, but I figured it would be a lot bigger. People had already started mumbling among themselves.

"Yes! It'll be held in a few days. Everyone is invited- any Romans," she winked at Piper, "nymphs, nereids, satyrs, and gods! The whole shebang," Drew said, which got the campers whispering. Their mom or dad would be there! "but, not all of them will show," she finished quickly, trying not to get their hopes up. She knew what it was like, everyone did.

"You can get swimsuits, wraps, flip flops, or anything like that in our cabin," one of the boys spoke up, stepping beside his sisters. He was Mike, or Michal, or something. "For a price," he said with a leer. "Of course you can always borrow them, and we do suggest designing your own, to reflect your cabin." Despite being a teenage boy, he was still a son of the goddess of love and beauty.

Many of the other campers were starting to warm up to the idea, looking excited, until an annoying Ares boy yelled out, "What if we can't swim?" Except, he wasn't being obnoxious. He sounded sincere and a little scared, and was stealing glances at Drew, when he thought no one was looking. Taking after his father, was he?

Percy glanced at me, pizza in hand, and we exchanged looks, coming to an agreement in those few seconds. Drew opened her mouth, but before she had a chance to speak, we stood up as well. "We've got that covered," Percy told him, looking at him specifically, reassuring, but everyone else too. "If you can't swim, or anything, come talk to Elena or I. We'll come up with a date and time to teach you."

"Uh, thanks," he mumbled, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"No problem," he said with a grin.

"Well, I think that's it!" Drew said, clapping her hands together. "Everyone, please continue eating! Thanks, Mr. D!" She hopped off the table, followed by her siblings. I glanced to Mr. D's usual spot at his table, but he was no where to be seen.

-xxx-

"You _do_ look alike!" Grover exclaimed on seeing Percy and I. We got that a lot, now that people knew we were siblings, and I wondered if a lot of that was really just the power of suggestion, or if it was something you didn't see until someone pointed it out to you, even if it was right under your nose, like your missing car keys or that ball and chain set you misplaced.

"Where have you been, man?" Percy asked, and hugged his best friend. "I heard you were back _days_ ago," he said, releasing him. "And why back so early from Canada, in the first place?"

"I was busy- ya' know, Counsel of Elders, Juniper, Mr. D and Emilie, seeing Annabeth, the drill," he waved it off as if it were nothing, and started chewing on a tin can. "The kid turned out to be a false alarm," we nodded. Lucky kid. "he was just dyslexic. No special parentage. Klyde was sent as my replacement."

"_Wait._ Mr. D and _Emilie_. Like, as in, the same sentence?" I asked. He nodded.

"Well I kinda walked in on the-" I held up my hand to stop him.

"Changed my mind. I don't really want to know," he nodded again.

"What's your name again? I've only heard you referred to as 'Percy's Sister', or the new Poseidon kid." I smiled and held out my hand.

"Elena Westlie," he took my hand, but his eyes got wide, and he bleated.

"The girl who…" he didn't finish the sentence, and looked like he was going to take a step back, or run for the hills at any moment. Great. I meet my brother's best friend, and he's scared away by my infamy with the satyrs.

"Whatever you heard, its probably not true!" I held up my hands in surrender. He didn't look very assured. Then, Percy stepped in.

"Grover, you are _panic_. The chosen satyr. You can't run from a little girl," I tried to grab him for that comment, but he held me away. Big brothers suck. Grover nodded and stepped closer.

"Right," he said, but still looked weary of me. I rolled my eyes. I'm just a little girl, right, Percy?

-xxx-

"PERCY!" I heard a loud, child-like voice call from the doorway. I turned to see a seven-something foot guy appear in the doorway. Then I looked up, and it wasn't a _guy_ really. It was a Cyclops. Probably a baby, judging from his size. Percy, who was just exiting the bathroom and pulling on a familiar orange shirt, looked up and grinned.

"Tyson!" Percy said, and the Cyclops grinned back unabashedly. Uh… my other brother?

"Er, hello?" I said a little awkwardly, waving. I felt like I was intruding. Percy look at me and his smile faltered. Did he suddenly not like me because his original sibling was back? That seemed too shallow for Percy, but I couldn't dismiss it entirely.

He bit his lip, looking between us, as if deciding how to get on with it when Tyson spoke.

"Who she, Percy?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. He probably wasn't used to girls other than Annabeth around the cabin- she'd been with Percy since before I had even heard of the gods, and he and Tyson had shared the cabin one summer, or so I'd been told.

"This is Daddy's other daughter, Elena. Our sister," he told him, as if unsure how to phrase it. Percy's eyes flitted between us. I wasn't sure what Percy was so worried about till Tyson rushed at me.

"SISTER!" he said, picking me up and swinging me around. I was too shocked to respond, so he swung me around like a rag doll.

"Tyson!" Percy chided, and in a scolding voice, told him, "Put Elena down!" Tyson stopped and looked confused for a moment, me still in his huge arms. I mean I'm rather tall, but not as huge as he was, by far.

"Put Sissy down?" He ask, and dropped me. Percy sighed in relief, and I rather wished he hadn't introduced us.

"Uhm, yeah. Don't pick up… Sissy?" he shook his head with a smile gracing his features. Tyson sat down on one of the other four beds, probably on the one he used the summer he spent at camp. Ss if remembering something, Percy's face lit up, and he turned to me, "Elena, Tyson came to pick us up- he's like our escort." Tyson nodded.

"We need an escort?" I asked.

"Not really, but it was a chance for you to meet him, as well as Dad. And well, our _other_ siblings," He said with displeasure, and it looked like he tasted something sour. I think he meant the ones who were Poseidon's legitimate children. Like the ones with his fishy wife. And I meant that in the literal way. From what I knew, they resented us too. This trip was going to be just _awesome. _

"Can I leave?" a voice spoke up from the doorway. A blonde girl, who I recognized as a child of Athena, was standing there, leaning on the doorframe. She was in her early twenties, and had green-grey eyes like her mother. And while her coloring may have been similar to Annabeth's, she looked completely different. She had a round face, and straight, blonde hair that reached a few inches past her shoulders. "Chiron sent me here to bring the Cyclops, and told me not to leave till I got your okay," she informed us.

"Yeah, sure. We can take it from here," she was about to leave when she looked over at Percy and Tyson. Then, back at us.

"He doesn't look like you guys, at all."

I turned to look at them, the two were discussing the shield that was nearly always hanging on the wall next to Percy's bed, along with Percy's other souvenirs. Tyson _didn't_ look like us- brown hair, brown eye. Completely different from Percy's and my black hair and green eyes. I suppose he got that from his mother.

"Oh, I suppose we don't," I said- didn't she want to leave? She held out her hand, a gesture to shake.

"I'm Rose, daughter of Athena, twenty three," I took her and she smiled

"Elena, daughter of Poseidon, sixteen," she turned on her heels and retreated back to her cabin, probably to talk with Annabeth about the weird family she was about to marry into. And Seaweed Brain. Yeah, I got that from my almost- sister-in-law.

"Alright. So, lets go?" Percy said, hopping up from his bed, checking his pockets for Riptide and making sure he had everything he needed.

-xxx-

"Weirdest. Feeling. Ever," I breathed, a little bubbly. We were riding hippocampi in the ocean, like, miles under. And I could see. And swim. And breathe. Percy and Tyson were acting like it was perfectly natural! Well, for us, it is, I suppose.

"Takes some time getting used to, doesn't it?" Percy asked. The ocean tends to look the same after awhile, but as I discovered, I could tell where exactly where were at any time in the ocean, and how fast we were going at the moment. We'd pretty much given up sightseeing hours ago, chatting with passing fish, nereids, and the few straggling me people, who weren't anything like I'd imagined. Percy had warned me they wouldn't be, but it was still a shock to see them in person.

"There," Tyson pointed, and at first I couldn't see anything. But then I spotted it. It was radiating power, and didn't look anything like anything I'd ever seen in movies before, and nothing like Ariel's palace from the Disney movie. Her dad was Triton, so would that mean I was her aunt?

I saw my dad long before we reached the floor. He was huge, and looked different from when I saw him in the dream. He didn't look human- well not that he normally was, but you know what I mean- with a tail and other merpeople-like qualities. Percy seemed to be reading my mind.

"He looks like a normal god on land, but in his domain, he looks like one of them," he informed me, and I nodded, not knowing if he saw it or not. After a few minutes, the hippocampi dropped us off right in front of our father, who shrank back to our size, and returned to his familiar human shape.

"Daddy!" Tyson waved. He was still on his hippocampus, Rainbow. They'd told me all about him on our journey over. We'd learned a lot about each other, and I found Tyson's childlike ways rather endearing.

"You did well, son," Poseidon said, looking at his son proudly, "You can go back to the forges, now. You did what I asked of you."

"Bye bye, Sissy, Percy!" Tyson said as he waved, and riding away. Presumably towards the forges, wherever they were. Then our father looked at Percy.

"He used to cry every time someone left. I think he's getting better, being with the other Cyclops and growing up," Percy whispered.

"Hello, son," Poseidon acknowledged, "and daughter," Percy smiled, he had actually met our father in person. Quite a few times at that.

"Hey, dad." Percy said, sounding clearer than I did.

"Um, yes," I floundered, "hi," I wasn't sure how to address him. Calling him 'Dad' in my head was different than doing it in person. I settled with a more neutral, "Father." I took good look around, and saw a lot of other merpeople. Were they really even called that?

"Oh, it's _them_," I heard a voice behind me. He said it as if he were saying 'Tartarus' or 'Hellhound mess'. Ugh. Dad frowned and turned to the man. Merman.

"Yes, Triton. Your mortal siblings," he sighed, emphasizing 'siblings'. Triton didn't flinch, but he glared at Poseidon and crossed his arms. His tale was flicking in the currents, and I felt the water rush up behind me. Percy gripped my arm, and steadying me. He had apparently dealt with these guys before.

"Worthless _mortals_. That's what they are," he sneered at us. Percy just sighed and rolled his eyes. Poseidon lowered his eyes. He wasn't too happy about his older son's treatment of his little siblings. Then, I grinned. A plan- albeit a probably really stupid one that could get me turned into fish food- was forming in my head.

"Oh, you're Triton?!" I asked feigning excitement. He looked at me like I had something wrong with me. I mean, I probably do, but that's beside the point.

"Yeah," he said gruffly, as if he was going to catch mortal germs simple by looking at us. "King of the Sea. Father's _real_ heir."

"Ohmigosh, _really_?" I said, starting to bounce up and down. Triton willed the water to pull him a few feet back. Oh _gods_ I could have too much fun with this.

"Yes," he said, exasperated. "what do you want, mortal?" Dad didn't look like he had any interest in stopping us. So he was the type of parent that let his kids fight their own battles. Excellent.

"That's so sweet!" I said, pulling off a perfect imitation of an Aphrodite demigod. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked like he wasn't getting it. _Perfect_.

"What is?"

"I can't believe you would let your daughter, Ariel, marry for true love!" I gushed.

"Wait, I don't-"

"And a mortal too!" I said, still imitating one of the girls.

"But I-"

"You are _so_ my favorite Disney character!" I said grinning at the poor man's confusion. Percy looked like he was fighting a laugh. I was positive his mom had him watch it when he was younger, considering who his dad was. Poseidon was looking neutral, but I could see amusement dancing his eyes, I figured that the real Triton didn't have a daughter named Ariel, and if he did, he wouldn't let her marry someone like Erik.

"I don't hav-"

"And I mean you were even cooler than Disney-Hades! And he had blue hair!"

"But that's not-"

"It's so cool! I'm Ariel's aunt!" I shrieked, and looked like I hadn't realized it before.

"I never-"

"Dude, you're like, _awesome_. I am _so_ glad to be your sister!" That was the final straw, before a look of horror flew across his face. He swam backwards, eyeing me like I was a rabid dog who might attack at any moment.

"I'm going to take my leave now, Father," he said, bowing, and swam off in the other direction. Percy burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.

"That-" he gasped between laughs, "was-" the corner of Poseidon's mouth was turned up, ad he was looking amused. "_brilliant_!" I grinned and feigned a curtsy.

"He wanted to insult us mortals, so I decided to get him back. I don't know how much of it was true, but if it's half as bad as the Hercules movie, than its _got_ to be insulting. And that was my favorite movie as a kid. I _had _to have watched it a billion times."

"Ah, yes. _That_ movie," Percy had stopped laughing, but he was still grinning. Every mortal and immortal, from Thalia's mom to Zeus, had seen that movie. They were _so_ off.

"Well, children, its getting late. I think it's time for dinner," Poseidon said, ushering us inside the palace.

-xxx-


	8. I take an unplanned two day nap

If I was Percy's mother, I would have totally accepted living in a palace on the bottom of the ocean with the god of the sea. What had she been thinking? She mustn't have been thinking straight that day. Not that I could mention that to Percy, of course. He's really protective of his mother. It's really sweet, and I hope I have a kids who are as amiable as he is, some day.

Anyhow, I really, really liked the palace, even though I wasn't particularly drawn to pearls or fish or seaweed, for that matter. It was still amazingly beautiful. And I was only saying that because I couldn't find a better word for 'amazing'. Throughout dinner, which I'm still not entirely sure what exactly it was we were eating, Percy had told me about his first visit. It was the summer of his fifteenth birthday, and he and the former Hephaestus head counselor had taken down the cruise ship the Princess Andromeda. Percy had gotten away mostly unscathed, but the other demigod had died. I hadn't been at camp then, but he was a really popular kid. But he'd just… died.

And then a lot of other kids had died, some even younger than myself. Gods suck, I knew. Didn't they see what they were doing? But then the Titans attacked, and Percy saved the world. The story would be told for generations, I knew. That is, if Dionysus stopped turning campers into shrubs. The Demeter children were getting tired of watering their friends every day.

"Would you like to come and live here with us, Elena?" my father asked, suddenly, looking at me expectantly. I coughed and almost choked on the gods' food I was eating, and my father's wife- my step mother, I suppose- was looking at us in distaste. I was staring back blankly, and Percy jabbed me in the ribs.

"I was asked the same thing. You don't have to accept," he whispered. I nodded and swallowed the food. I looked at my father, and I knew he heard what Percy said, but he was expecting me to make my own decision.

"Um… Can I think about it?" I asked sheepishly. My father nodded indulgently, and didn't seem to mind- but my stepmother was looking pleased. 'Thinking about it' in her head, was probably 'No, but I don't want to offend you, because that's a really bad idea.' I really was thinking about it, though. The place was freaking Daughter-of-Poseidon heaven. Poseidon's court was beautiful, with a floor of mortar and pearls, thrones of coral, and splashes of blue and green dancing across the room. But that was only part of the palace.

The entire thing was as big as Mount Olympus, complete with wide undersea gardens, open pavilions, and courtyards. The gardens had coral and seaweed and a bunch of other plants I kinda recognized but couldn't pin a name to. Abalone buildings that glowed rainbow where everywhere, led to by paths that were lined with glowing pearls that lit the way. Inside the palace, the long always were made of abalone as well, with geysers that shot you upwards, instead of mundane, trivial things like _stairs_. It was _awesome_.

Fish and merpeople swam in and out of windows, which, being undersea, didn't have panes of glass. My room, or at least the one I was staying in, was… well, it was just gorgeous. It had the basic components of the rest of the palace and our cabin back home at camp half blood, but it seemed so much neater underwater. The walls were, of course, abalone, with lights dancing off the walls from floating glowing pearls bigger than my head. The bed was made of silky woven kelp, with a delicate gossamer sheet. It was absolutely perfect.

But that wasn't half of it. Being a child of the sea god meant I could totally live underwater, and I would be with my father nearly all the time. That was a lot more than most demigods. Hell, that was more than _any_ demigod. And that mean not being attacked by monsters hardly at all, if ever. I could live out my entire life down there and be perfectly content. But there was still something holding me back. I couldn't pinpoint it, however.

"Of course, my dear," he smiled, and his wife glared at me. Triton was _still_ avoiding me from the night before. I hadn't seen him when Percy and I had gone to bed- in separate rooms. We didn't mind sharing a room like we did at camp, but the servants told us that their Lord and Lady must have their own rooms- their master's children couldn't simply _share _a room. _Gods,_ I love this place!

"Thank you," I said, and continued eating. Percy and Poseidon took up a conversation about Florida and hurricane season. Stepmom-fishlady was stabbing the food on her plate with a fork. Probably practicing stabbing us- or herself- with it when she was done. I was pretty sure we had other immortal siblings, but they hadn't shown up, so I wasn't going to worry about them at the moment.

Which made me think about another important thing. The beach bash. Not that I would mind- but considering it was the beach, and the beach meant sun, a certain god would probably show up with the girl he liked. And I would be there, swimming with Percy and Lou Ellen, and- well not Emilie, since she doesn't like water very much, ironically- and stealing jealous looks at them, because okay, at this point, I was willing to admit I was royally fucked and that I _liked a god_. I didn't want to go alone, because I knew there would be a ton of couples being all cute, but I didn't exactly have anyone I could go with, either. I bet I could blackmail Leo into going with me…

But it wouldn't be the same, now would it?

And I would need a new bathing suit. Emilie and I had left in a hurry, and we hadn't been entirely sure where we were going when we left home, so we only grabbed the basic toiletries, a few pairs of jeans and shorts, underwear, and pajamas. So whatever we didn't have was provided by camp, and that meant a neutral one piece swimsuit. Which didn't look good, _at all_. I'd look around the next few days to see if I could either find a decent suit, or at least a bikini top, because if they had anything down here, it was shell tops.

-xxx-

Getting back to the surface wasn't nearly as weird as getting to the seafloor. Basically, we just willed the water to push us to the surface, and, as usual, we didn't have any problems breathing underwater. I'm sure we looked funny, but we called Hipocampi to help us get back to camp. When they came, Percy took Rainbow. Tyson wasn't coming with us, which I was actually a little disappointed about, since over the last few days, I'd grown fond of the young Cyclops. Over the trip, I'd heard about quite a few of Percy's exploits of before I came to camp. He's basically the most powerful half-blood out there right now. And I was one of the others, although definitely not as powerful as my brother, Thalia, Jason, or maybe even Nico, Emilie's brother.

Camp looked the same as when we left, as it always did. The dragon was still guarding the golden fleece, Apollo's kids were playing basketball, Hephaestus' kids were banging away in the forges, Dionysus and Chiron were on the porch playing pinochle, and the weather was as perfect as always. Never any rain. Of course, it could rain, if Mr. D let it. He, however, only let that happen occasionally in winter, for snow.

Percy left as soon as we reached the camp. He was walking through the water easily, as it was his element. He stepped on land and his shoulders seemed to stoop- I knew what they felt like. Every time I touched water, I was filled with power, confidence, and energy. The second I stepped out, it was like all of that was drained right out of me.

But before I stepped out of the water, I could sense something was there. I could **feel** it. Whatever it was, was standing in the forest, and Percy couldn't sense it. He was a few feet ahead of me, stretching from the long hippocampi ride, and I was still in the water. I glanced at the brush, but didn't see anything. That didn't mean it wasn't there, however. Sometimes, demigods were even more blind than those effected by the mist.

"You coming, Elena?" Percy called, his arms above his head, his orange camp shirt riding up, to reveal his back. I shook my head, not stepping out of the water.

"No… I have to do something. I'll catch up later," I said, and he nodded. "Tell Mr. D and Chiron I'm back, and inside the boarders so they don't send harpies to eat me."

"Alright. Think about what Poseidon offered- not every kid gets to go live with their godly parent," he said, hesitantly, still turned away from me. I could tell he didn't want me to go.

"Okay, I will. I'll see you later!" I told him, and he trudged up the hill, and over to the rest of camp.

I took a step out of the water, and instantly felt tired. I guess all that swimming and water manipulating took more out of me than I thought. I wasn't going to stop, though. I couldn't, well, feel it as well as I could, now that I was out of the water, but I could still tell someone- or something- was there in the trees. It wasn't a bad feeling, just… a different one. I was fully on land at this point. I took a few hesitant steps to the edge of the forest, and pushed through the trees. I found myself in a small clearing. And standing there was Apollo, god of the sun.

-xxx-

"Hello?" I spoke hesitantly. He might not have wanted to be disturbed. He was turned away from me, but I could tell it was him. He looked a lot like his kids, but he was… different. Not so young, but more carefree.

"Hm. You could tell I was here. That's not an easy thing to do. I'm impressed," he said.

I floundered over my words, wondering if I should say something like, 'thanks!' or 'I try,' but settled on, "Huh?"

"You knew I was here," he still hadn't turned around.

"Well, yeah. Isn't it like, one of those weird demigod things? Being able to sense weird stuff? It's supposed to keep you alive and all that. Well, keep me alive," I said, thinking of my ADHD and Dyslexia. Although the latter was more of my brain being wired for ancient Greek than anything else, which really wasn't a useful skill these days, but they made us learn Greek anyway. I was almost as bad at it as I was with Latin. But I was really bad with Latin, so nothing ever really comes close to how awful I was with that.

"Not so much. Did you know that when your brother met Hermes, he thought a mortal had found his way into camp?" I shook my head, but remembered he couldn't see me.

"No, I didn't. Is this good?" I asked incredulously. I'd been taught a lot of stuff in the past few months, and one of the more important things I'd learned was that not everything you were 'gifted' with was so great. Actually, most of them were horrible. Like the fact you could be smelled by monsters, and that that one guy from fairy tales does exist and really could turn you to gold with a single touch.

"I'd say so," then, he turned to look at me. He wasn't smiling, and he seemed a bit sad. I felt my breath catch. Gods, I liked this guy. I don't think I could live at the bottom of the ocean. The sun didn't reach that far.

"Oh, uh, good?" I said, not really attempting to be cheerful.

"I fell in love with a mortal, once. Well, I've fallen in love with a lot of mortals over the years, but I'm thinking of one in particular. She told me she loved me, and begged me to give her the gift of prophecies. I was too blinded by love to see that she was lying through her teeth the entire time, but I was happy to oblige. Once she got the gift, she left me," his tone was bitter and cold. It sounded unfamiliar coming from Apollo, and it set me on edge. I stood up straighter. Gods were not to be toyed with. He wasn't looking at me anymore. "so I killed her." Was this some kind of warning?

"I'm sorry," I said, but he was already gone.

-xxx-

"No."

"Yes!"

"Uh, no."

"_Yes_."

"What part of 'no', don't you people understand?"

"Tout cela!" A chorus of voices said in French. Did they travel in packs?

"_Fine_. I'll wear it. But if I get kidnapped like Lady Persephone, I swear to Poseidon I'll come back to get you. All of you," I said grumpily, pointing to all of them individually as the girls handed me a bikini bottom from one of their clothes racks to go with the shell top I'd gotten at one of the venders at Poseidon's palace. Their cabin was overflowing with bikinis and one pieces, swim trunks and wraps for girls to wear over their suits. Boxes of flip flops were piled to the ceiling on shelves and beds. I could see faces peeking up from behind and in between them. I glowered at the girls, and they giggled. A guy in the back laughed uneasily. I couldn't tell if he was once of them, or if he had been roped into it by one of their pretty faces.

I had started to wonder where the hell they had gotten everything on such a sort notice, when I remembered who's children they were. And I wasn't talking about their mother, either. They probably had this planned for weeks, and as soon as they got the a-okay from Mr. D, sent conformation emails to a hundred different companies to deliver the orders the next day, because their dads are ridiculously rich and influential.

"Nice," I breathed, looking at the bottom. It was a shade of turquoise that would go nicely with my black hair. It was pretty simple, with brown strings tying the sides together, and some actual scraps of fishing net on the left hip. Little pearls were sewn into it in bunches, which, surprisingly, didn't look gaudy at all. It was actually kind of gorgeous. It fir very nicely with my seashell bikini top. The merman who sold me the top told me the shells were Elegant Dosinia, which were these slightly round shells, normally only getting up to three inches, but considering my dad has glowing pearls the size of basketballs, normal mortal shell sizes wouldn't exactly be a challenge for him. The shells were almost identical, and were a cream color, with slight blue swirls crawling from the bottom to the top, and it seemed that if I looked at them long enough, the swirls would change. It was padded, of course, and tied together with the same brown string, and I was starting to wonder if any of this was a coincidence after all. The two looked really nice together. Because while I may be a sword-wielding demigod who kills monsters for fun, I was still a _girl_.

"We told you it would look good," Angelina giggled, "It's _so_ going to impress him! Or her," she added as an afterthought and a shrug. Whoa. What?

"Back up a bit. What?"

"The guy you like, obviously. We can recognize a love struck girl when we see one," Piper said, lounging on her bed.

"I didn't say there _was_ any guy. You guys dragged me here as soon as I dropped my stuff in my cabin. Definitely no guy."

"Oh _please_," Drew said, filing her perfect nails. "Sorry, hun, but we know better. There's clearly a guy. We just don't know who," she tapped the filer on the armrest. "but that's a problem that can be quickly solved." Great, wonderful.

"Whatever you say," I said wearily eyeing them and their all-knowing smirks. "So, what do I owe you?" I asked.

"Oh, it's on us. We're always looking to help a girl in love," a girl I didn't recognize winked at me. She smiled, and I swear I saw her appearance change, if only for a moment. It was… weird. The girl- woman, really- looked older than the rest of the girls, but sill rather young. I felt like I was compelled to please her, like I wanted to be her. I could have sworn she was the most beautiful person I had ever met in my entire life. That is, if I could remember what she looked like. I didn't have time to process it, because the door was shut in my face.

"Ugh. I hate my relatives."

-xxx-

"Lorri? What the hell are you doing?" I asked, when I saw the girl slumped down at the edge of the pavilion. She was in the shade, and her long pale hair was messy. Her shirt was rumpled like she had been sleeping all day- and with her father, she probably had.

"Hmmm?" She mumbled sleepily, and yawned. Usually she and her siblings weren't this sleepy outside of their cabin. Their cabin was like… an insomniac's paradise. Someone with insomnia, who drank six cups of coffee, and taped their eyes open wouldn't stay awake for long. Hypnos was the god of sleep, after all.

"Come on, you need to move. Lunch is in an hour," I told her, pulling her up by her arm. She mumbled something about not going into a cabin, and I rolled my eyes. I pulled her, sleepily, towards her cabin, and when I knocked, she seemed to wake up.

"Oh, Elena!" she said, seeming to recognize me for the first time, and pulled back. Her brother opened the door and raised an eyebrow at us.

"Err, Lorri? You weren't supposed to come back for… awhile," he said, glancing at me almost nervously. Lorri rubbed her eyes, and looked up.

"Sorry… I fell asleep," she yawned sheepishly, and he sighed. He ushered her into the cabin.

He thanked me for dropping his sister off, and parting ways, I darted off towards my own cabin. I was due for practice with some of the Ares kids, who never turned down a fight, in a few minutes. I had to grab my armor and sword.

As I stepped in my cabin, I knew something was wrong. I looked around, but it seemed that no one was there, and nothing was out of place. I shrugged to myself, passing off the bad feeling as nerves in regards to facing the Ares kids. I was searching through a bag on my bed, when I heard whispering. It didn't sound like the 'I'm-spying-on-you' whisper, but the urgent whisper between two people who were doing something, and it wasn't going as planned. I couldn't say exactly what happened next. I saw a blur that was roughly person-shaped and someone crying out.

"Elena, watch out!" and a scream. Something cold and hard hit me on the head, and I was knocked to the floor. The pain hadn't even started to register before I passed out.

-xxx-

**Alright guys! Response time! I'm curious- if you were a half-blood, who would your parent be? **

**Or, if you wouldn't be a demigod, what would you be? (Satyr, minor god, nymph, Huntress of Artemis, etc)**


	9. The oracle visits my brother

**-xxx-**

"…She's moving!"

"Thank… gods!"

-xxx-

"I swear!"

"This is the _third_ time today."

"Sorry…"

"Stop feeling so guilty."

"I know…."

-xxx-

I couldn't say what time it was, but voices had been fading in and out for hours. Or what felt like hours. The sun was blaring down on me from where I was laying on one on the lawn chairs on the Big House's front porch, so it was obviously daytime. I tried to sit up, but I fell back again, feeling dizzy. My vision was hazy, but then one of the Apollo kids, and one of Lorri's siblings stepped into view. They exchanged relieved glances, which I thought was strange. What happe- _oh_. Yeah. I got hit in the head. I groaned, and reached up to touch the back of my head. There was a lump, and it felt sore to the touch, but it didn't seem too bad.

"Chiron! She's really awake this time!" he called. I didn't know which Apollo kid it was, I was still really out of it, but he handed me a glass of nectar. I took a sip, and it tasted like mac and cheese, and even though there was a tiny burning sensation, I was feeling better. I sat up, and I wasn't feeling so off anymore. I looked around, and there was one other kid passed out on the porch. I was surprised it wasn't Emilie, actually.

"Sorry…" the Hypnos kid mumbled, looking at the floor, where his feet were scuffing the porch. I figured he must have had a part in whatever the hell happened to me.

"It's alright. What happened anyway?" I asked, looking around. Mr. D wasn't anywhere to be seen, but I didn't mind. At all. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with a pouting god.

"Lorri, my brother and I were playing a prank on your cabin… It was only supposed to make you guys pass out for a few moments! I swear!" I frowned, and looked at Chiron and the other demigod approaching. His job was done, which was probably to make me wake up, so he left to go play basketball or practice archery. Like he needed it. Those kids had perfect aim.

"It's nice to see you're awake, child." Chiron said, as he rolled over in his wheelchair. I wasn't sure why he wasn't walking around normally, but I suspected it had something to do with the other unconscious kid. I hadn't recognized him, and he wasn't wearing a Camp Half-Blood shirt, There was a glass of nectar on the table next to him, and a little plate of ambrosia.

"Thank's, Chiron," I glanced at the Hypnos boy, who was still shuffling around, and I sighed. "So… How long was I out of it?" A few hours? Couldn't have been for very long. He paused thoughtfully.

"About a day and a half," he eventually told me, and I choked. Chinon patted me on the back as I forced the nectar back down, "It's about ten o'clock in the morning," he added as an afterthought. I was relieved and upset at the same time. I was relieved I hadn't missed the bash, but that meant I still had to go and possibly see Apollo on the arm of a girl, and also that I missed _a day and a half._

"Um…. Can I leave? Not to be ungrateful or anything," I said, and he smiled. It reached his eyes. He'd dealt with thousands of heroes. All with their own problems, and he never complained. He'd once said he was only immortal as long as he trained heroes, which was what he loved doing. And he'd probably be doing it forever.

"Of course. Go tell your friends that you're back, and don't blame Lorri or any of the other children too much," I nodded, pushing myself up from the chair. Upon standing, in felt the rush of standing too fast, and my vision went black for a moment. I gripped the armrest tighter, and gritted my teeth, After a minute my vision cleared to see Chiron's concerned face. I told him I was fine, but he made me promise to take another sip of nectar before I left. I walked towards my cabin after leaving the Big House. As I made my way towards my cabin, I saw the line of campers leading out the door of the Aphrodite cabin. They were dressed in everything from pajamas (mostly Hypnos, but there were a few others too) and armor to old swimsuits. I was starting to be glad I passed out- the Aphrodite crew wouldn't let anyone escape helping them out, I'm sure.

I waved at a few of my other friends, and Annabeth, when I saw them. Despite all the things out there trying to kill them, most demigods, myself included, are just kids. Torn from a world that actually made sense, at a young age, for most. They still liked to fuss over teenage stuff- like acne, boys or girls, and what clothes to wear. Even though none of that would matter when fighting a hellhound or giant scorpion.

Back in my cabin, I looked in the bathroom mirror, and found that I looked surprisingly pale. I didn't look bad at all- maybe that Apollo kid was better than he looked- because apparently pale goes well with dark hair. My black hair was looking normal, not staying in place, no matter how much I tried to brush it. My green eyes weren't bloodshot like I expected, and by looks alone, it didn't appear that I had gotten whacked in the head two days previously.

I took a shower, and changed into a clean version of the clothes I'd been wearing. I glanced at my bed, and noticed that lying on top of it was something that hadn't been there when I left the cabin to head for the bathroom. When I approached the bed, I saw that it was a cover up, a wrap, a little dress thing that one wore over a swim suit. It was beautiful, and more than a little stunning. I was gaping, I knew, but I had to reach out my hand and touch it. It sent a little shock up my arm, which caused me to wretch back my arm.

The wrap consisted of a loose, turquoise gossamer fabric. It was entirely see-through, so it didn't actually hold much real purpose, but hardly any actually did. It was mostly for show, anyway. It was sleeveless, clasping in the middle of my chest, with a silver broach in the shape of a sea shell. I figured that when I wore it, it would probably reach to the tips of my fingers when my hands were held at my sides.

I moved it closer to inspect the clasp and broach, when something fell from it. I hadn't seen anything previously, but I hadn't seen the dress earlier, either. I picked the object up, and saw that it was a card. The card was pale, and unless you focused on it, you didn't see that it was almost pink. A light scent drifted past my nose, and figuring the scent came from the card, brought it up to smell. It smelled like… like it was making me feel dreamy and… love magic. Damn. I picked up the card, careful not to smell it, and read the back aloud. Being dyslexic, it took me a few tries.

"_I enjoy a good romance,_" I frowned at the curly script (which was a dyslexic kid's nightmare, but luckily it was in ancient Greek) and thought of the one person, or goddess, who would do such a thing. Aphrodite. The goddess of love, sexuality, beauty, and messing with people's lives. The latter unofficial, of course. I glanced at the paper again, but it was blank.

-xxx-

"What have you been up to while I was asleep?"

"I wouldn't call a blow to the head 'sleeping'," Emilie said, rolling her eyes. She leaned back against the side of her cabin, and sighed. "But honestly... sometimes I wonder about what the point of all of this is. I wonder what life would be like as normal mortals, without gods and monsters and this magic crap."

"Me too. But, life is more fun this way," I said cheerfully. She snorted.

"Are you sure you're alright? Because I think you may have been hit harder than we thought, here, let me check your temperature," I rolled my eyes and pushed her out of the way as she tried to cover my face with her hand.

"No way, I'm perfectly fine!" I told her, She shook her head and began telling me what happened while I was 'asleep'.

"Okay, so… Well, I decided that a beach party wasn't a good idea."

"I thought you were the one who convinced Mr. D to let us have it in the first place!"

"Ah, um, well, I decided that wasn't a good idea. For me, I mean. Everyone else will have a blast, but I don't really feel like getting sun-burnt again. Or, you know, getting pulled under water by the Loch Ness Monster and drowning."

"Well you wouldn't get a sunburn if you wore sunscreen and didn't insult Apollo. And you wouldn't drown if you took swimming lessons from Percy or me. "

"My entire existence is an insult to your boyfriend. I refuse to take swimming lessons. I can _swim_. I just don't like it."

"He's not my boyfriend!" I protest feebly. "So, are you going to the bash, anyway?" I asked, after a moment's pause. I wasn't really trying to change the subject, just… move it to a slightly different one.

"Don't know," she said, with slight indifference. Her sunburn, which was really more of a tan now, was fading. She looked right at me, and asked, "How much do you like Apollo?" I was a little taken aback by her question, but she had never really been the most predictable of girls.

"A lot. Probably more than I should," I sighed, and leaned against the wall, in the space next to her. "He's going to end up breaking my heart," I told her, and she narrowed her eyes.

"If he does, we have a_ lot_ of people we can send to kick his ass," the corner of her mouth turned upwards, in more of a leer than a smile, "And then we can beat up the Apollo cabin, who will be guilty by association."

"I'm glad to see I have such great friends."

"Great _friend_."

"Right."

"But... you do like him, then?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe I'll go to the bash... just to piss him off, of course."

"Of course."

-xxx-

The next few days leading up to the beach bash were pretty uneventful. Camp got a few more shipments of supplies, courtesy of the Aphrodite cabin, and there were plenty of RSVPS from non-camp goers flooding in. We carried on with life as usual, and honestly, it felt wonderful to be training with my friends again, practicing sword fighting with my brother, archery with Demeter and Apollo, and helping out with the swimming lessons.

Although they were mainly run by Percy, the naiads and nereids volunteered their time to help the campers learn to swim, as well. Most of the heroes who couldn't swim were first timers, since swimming was a pretty big thing at camp. There were, of course, the few bullheaded campers, like the Ares boy who spoke up in the first place, who had previously passed their inability to swim off as stubbornness against water, rather than inability. Upon reaching the party's date, we had pretty much squared everyone away, and the naiads were acting as lifeguards in case anyone had conveniently 'forgotten' to attend swim lessons.

During the week, I got a few messages from Apollo, too. Now that Percy was back, he tended to call me at night when I was alone, which a lot of the time meant not in my cabin. It increased the likelihood that we'd be overheard, but I realized that I had no idea if Apollo was even trying to hide… this. I certainly wasn't, because it wasn't really something, but I wasn't going around advertising my escapades with a god. And then, like before, he actually came to see me. He knocked on the cabin door, and like the time in the forest, I suspected I knew who it was.

Percy was awoken too, but I assured him I could get it, and _yes_, I'd be careful, don't you see the sword in my hand? I opened it to find- like I expected- Apollo, who was holding up a six pack of orange soda. Which I suspected had something to do with the fact that oranges were grown in Florida, the sunshine state. It might also have something to do with orange soda being one of my favorite sodas. We stumbled down to the beach, where we sat for hours looking at the stars. I figured that his presence had something to do with the harpies not eating me for breaking curfew, but it was only a theory, and not one I'd like to test without him.

When he left that night, he forgot his sunglasses again, and so the Ray Bans sat on my night stand, with Percy glancing at them suspiciously on occasion.

-xxx-

Running up from behind, I jumped on Percy's back.

"Agh!" he cried, before practically falling over. Well, he deserved it if he couldn't tell I was coming. He was standing helping some of the satyrs decide where to put the tables on the beach. When the planners said everywhere, they had meant _everywhere_. The Aphrodite cabins had somehow cashed in a few favors, and got the Muses to come to play music. Although the party would start earlier in the day, it would carry on into the night, so we set up lights in strategic places, as well. There were a few decorations made by several of the more artistically inclined cabins.

I hopped off of him before he had a chance to get up, and he glared at me, pushing off the ground, and wiping his hands on his pants. He pushed his sweaty hair back, and groaned, stretching. He'd been at it all day, and the sun was glaring down upon him.

"Miss me?" I said. I'd hardly seen Percy at all the last few days. We'd both been training, and teaching swimming lessons, although at different times, and between his helping the Aphrodite cabin sort and process whatever they had bought, and my nightly excursions, we'd been pretty distant recently.

"No."

"Gee, thanks," I heard rustling, and turned around, only to come face to face with a freckled, redhead girl. Her curly hair was past her shoulders, and her green eyes were eerily familiar. She peered at me with interest, before turning to Percy. She grinned and hugged him.

"How have you been? I got to camp as soon as I could," she released him, and glanced at me again.

"I've been good, Rachel. You didn't get attacked by any monsters this year, did you?" he asked, concern present on his face. Her name was familiar, and I was sure I'd heard it somewhere before, I just couldn't pinpoint it. Was she a demigod? She didn't seem to be, and I could usually tell these things, but what would anyone who wasn't a demigod be doing here so early? The party wasn't till tomorrow. And 'Rachel' didn't seem like the most godly name, nor one for a nymph.

"Nope! I can't imagine why they would- I'm only a moral, you know," she said, shaking her head. I was a little shocked- a mortal? At camp half-blood? How did she even get in past the boarders?

"That's good, anyway. Oh, and I'd like you to meet someone, Rachel," he said, turning to me. "This is my half sister, Elena Westlie, daughter of Poseidon."

"Hi, Elena," Rachel said, holding out her hand.

"And this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Delphi," my eyes widened as I remembered where I had heard the name before. Upon first arriving to camp, I had seen the (somewhat recently updated, I'd been told) orientation video, which included a history of the oracle. The spirit had transferred from young girl to young girl, until it was trapped in a mummified body and stored in the attic. Then, about three years ago, when the curse was broken, a clear-sighted mortal friend of my brother's took the role of oracle.

We shook hands, and Percy and Rachel started to catch up on what had happened over the last few months at camp and in their normal lives. She seemed really interested in hearing about me- I wasn't entirely sure why, since, I mean finding out your friend has a new sibling is great, but she'd friends with other demigods, like Annabeth who have tons of siblings-, and about his proposal to Annabeth. I could see that she had once liked him as more than a friend, but now they were more like cousins, or siblings. She couldn't ever be with anyone, anyway.

I heard a few snippets of their conversation, a few involving Pan, college life, her father- who seemed to relate to all of that in some way-, and Annabeth. I wasn't paying very much attention, and I didn't really have anything to do, so I just sat there until Annabeth came, and I decided to go somewhere else. I haven't known these people for very long, despite the fact we were all related in some way. I still felt like an outsider, sometimes. I wasn't there when Percy saved the world, or when Annabeth led her quest, or when Rachel hit the Titan Lord in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush. I wasn't here when Jason and Percy teamed up to save the world _again_, when Annabeth recovered the statue of Athena, or when Frank and Hazel and Leo all became friends.

-xxx-

Dinner that night was a little tense, for some reason I couldn't determine.

Over the course of dinner, an Ares boy threatened to beat up six different satyrs if they spilled _anything_ on him. An Iris girl burst into rainbow tears because she didn't have a bathing suit yet, and was lead away by Lacy. Drew refused four boys who asked if she wanted to go to the bash together, and kept glancing over at the Ares table, at the boy who was threatening satyrs. The Athena cabin was actually talking about something other than architecture for once. And weirdest of all, Mr. D didn't seem to mind any of this, and I think he was _smiling. _Or, well, not being as much of a dick as usual. I think they should have parties like this more often. After all, it was the Greeks who invented theater, and he was the god of parties.

"This is starting to remind me of C.C.'s," Percy said, shaking his head. Rachel paused, and looked at him over the mashed potatoes. She was sitting at our table, because she was mortal, and could sit wherever she wanted and Mr. D couldn't do anything about it. Rachel had told me that she was using the excuse that the Athena table was too full, and Mr. D scared her, so she could sit with us. No one could dispute it, since she'd the oracle. She looked like she was one of those girls to use that to her advantage.

"Wazat?" she mumbled, her mouth full. I hadn't a clue either, but I figured I'd be listening to Percy's stories for the rest of my life, and I'd never reach the end of them.

"Yeah, what _is_ that?" I asked, and he gulped down his drink.

"You really don't want to know. Just thank Hermes and Annabeth, and think demonic spa," he said, and continued eating. Rachel, sitting across from Percy and I, looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged, and made a mental not to ask Annabeth later.

Ten minutes later, everyone was kicked out of the pavilion to head to the campfire, so the last of the big supplies and decorations could be moved without us all getting in the way.

Looking around the campfire and seeing the plethora of kids and thought of how many parents they expected to see the next day. I wasn't sure which gods or goddesses were even coming, though. Probably Aphrodite so she could make people fall in love. Apollo, the god of music, with whoever _she_ was, providing she wasn't mortal. Dionysus, the god of partying, and since he was stuck at camp. A few others might come, just for entertainment. I might have expected my father, but I didn't think he was coming, even though the beach was his thing. I'd just have to wait and see, though.

I headed off to my cabin after the sing-a-long, and watched everyone else file into their own, or head to the Aphrodite one to pick up last-minute suits, or towels, or flip flops. Well, actually, I had to pick up flip flops. I didn't own any.

I stopped by their cabin and stood in the line, which was pretty short. After about ten minutes, I was in the front, with only two people behind me. When I stepped into the cabin, I was surprised to find it mostly empty. I didn't think we even had that many people at camp. But Roman demigods and foreign nymphs had been arriving all week, and staying in their respective cabins. I asked for a pair of blue flip flops in my size, and they handed me a matching towel. I already had one, but this matched, so I decided I'd use it.

Percy was in the bathrooms taking a shower, and I was going to head over and take one as well. I grabbed my toiletries bag, my pajamas, and a towel, and headed towards the showers. There was another line, but I didn't really mind. After showering- which really shouldn't have taken that long, but I like water, it helps me think- I headed back to the cabin, where Percy was already passed out on his bed. I smiled fondly at him, and dumped my dirty clothes on the floor and promptly followed my brother into oblivion.

-xxx-


	10. We shop for an Olympian Party Pack

**ATTENTION READERS: THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you read this fic at **_**any**_** time before 10/22/12, then I ask you to please go back and read it all again. It doesn't have to do so much with you forgetting what happened so much as I **_**changed**_** what happened. The story you remember isn't quite the same as the I'm continuing to write now. I edited stuff, and added new parts. I promise it's much better than last time. **

-xxx-

I woke up that morning full of excitement. It was about eight, as usual, and I could already hear exhilarated murmurs of kids heading to breakfast before the bash. They were catching up with their Roman friends, and chatting about what they expected the party to be like. The normal daily activities had been canceled, except for breakfast, since the bash was going to last all day. We'd be cooking actual barbeque over a bonfire on the beach. Normally we leave that up to the nymphs and their normal cooking utensils, but today we wouldn't be having normal meals in the pavilion. And so that meant we didn't have to make our cabin look even slightly presentable till the next morning.

Percy was already up and rummaging through his trunk, presumably looking for something clean to wear to breakfast. He eventually settled on an orange shirt, which looked pretty clean, and a pair of jeans, which he threw onto his bed. I think they were the ones he wore the previous day, but he'd probably only be wearing them for another hour or so, until he changed into his swim trunks.

I rolled back over, groaning. "I want to sleep for another ten hours," I told him, looking up at the ceiling, laying spread eagle on the bed. The sheets and comforter were in bunches, hanging off the side of the bed. I sat up and pushed them off, straightening my pajamas, which were in disarray from my messy sleeping habits. He patted my leg on his way out, and I rolled my eyes.

"You could," he said, catching himself on the doorframe, turning back to me, halfway out the door, "but then you'd miss the party," he was about to continue walking out to breakfast, when he turned to me again, "and word from the sea is that dad might make an appearance."

I groaned again, and rolled over, and off the bed, catching myself before I hit the ground, "I'm up!" I called, and stretched. Percy was already gone by then, but I roll my eyes anyway. I grabbed an orange Camp Half-Blood tank top, which was really just a camp shirt with the sleeves cut off (due to un unfortunate accident which involved the lava wall) and shorts from the dresser, and quickly changed into them, tossing the comforter back into place, so it at least looked like we had made an effort.

Deciding against taking any weapons into breakfast, I jogged out the door and up the hill to the pavilion. I waved at a few people on my way there, the few heroes still straggling behind. Not paying attention, I slammed right into the back of another demigod.

"Oh my gods, shit, sorry!" I cried, and knelt down to help Lou Ellen, a daughter of Hecate, with the lights she'd been carrying. They hadn't looked like they'd broken, but I looked them all over to see. They were lanterns that you hung in the yard or something, "Are these for the party?" I asked, holding one up, as we knelt in the grass.

"Yes, they are," she said softly, with her accent bleeding through. "Lacy asked me if I could help last minute."

We stood up, and I piled the last of the lanterns in her arms, and apologized once more, "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's alright," she nodded, and made her way to the beach, where there were a bunch of satyrs and Aphrodite kids with clipboards and pens looking rather serious.

I finally made it to breakfast, where I grabbed a plate of food from one of the nymphs. Standing in line with the rest of the stragglers, I tossed a piece of toast into the fire and whispered, "Hopefully you'll come for the party today. I think I've made my decision."

Sitting down next to Percy, who was having a conversation two tables away, I ate my breakfast in silence. Well, relative silence. I was silent. The rest of the campers in the pavilion were laughing and trading stories with friends, and talking about the bash. It started at eleven, and it was nearly nine, so we had a few hours, so breakfast wasn't in a rush. We were all taking our time.

Drew, who insisted on personally supervising everything that had to do with the beach bash personally, ran up, looking flustered. None of the Aphrodite campers were at breakfast, along with some of the other heroes. Jason wasn't at his table, and as I saw him arrive, I knew he was at camp, so I assumed he had been roped into helping by his girlfriend, Piper. Followed shortly by the latter, Drew stepped up on her table. Piper climbed up on the other side. That really couldn't have been hygienic, but I was sure the harpies would just clean it with lava later.

"ATTENTION," she said loudly, and I could feel the charmspeak leaking into her words. I _had_ to listen. The rest of the kids went silent too, making the roaring of conversation trickle down to idle murmurs.

"Remember," Piper said, not using charmspeak now that everyone was paying attention, "the party starts at eleven this afternoon."

"But don't be afraid to be fashionably late," Drew interjected, hopping down from the table, holding out her hand to help Piper down.

"That's it guys, thanks!" she piped up, taking Drew's hand and jumping down next to her. Piper released Drew's hand and they turned and headed back towards the beach, chatting animatedly.

Percy and I were both done at this point, so with everyone else slowly trickling out of the mess hall, he stood up. "We have a few hours, want to head to the arena for an hour of sword fighting practice?"

"Sure," I told him, following him back to the cabin to grab our armor and my sword.

-xxx-

After practice, I showered and head back to the cabin to change for the bash. On my way, I passed Emilie, who had decided to go after all. She was on her way back to her cabin to change into her swimsuit, which I realized I hadn't actually seen. And knowing Emilie, I probably _wouldn't_ see, ever.

In my cabin, I pulled my suit and the wrap out of my trunk, and the box still containing my flip flops, and put them on the bed. I examined them, just to make sure they were still in one piece. Or two pieces, considering it was a two piece bathing suit. They looked as beautiful as ever.

I stripped, and slipped into the suit, managing to tie both parts of the top. I speculated that they were magically fitted, considering most of the mermaids I saw when I visited my dad had been wearing them. I took a step back, and looked in the mirror. I really liked the bathing suit.

I glanced down at the wrap on my bed, and the longer I looked at it, the less I found I actually wanted to wear it. It was pretty, yes, but it looked a bit more like a nightgown than a beach cover up. I decided to try it on over my suit before deciding if I was going to wear it, so I put it on, clasping the shell in the front. I felt funny for a moment, and then looked in the mirror. I was glowing faintly, and when I looked up, I saw that my hair and make up were done. I groaned, and realized that the cover up had a blessing of Aphrodite attached.

"Damn," I swore under my breath, and for a moment, I thought I heard the faint peal of laughter. I looked back in the mirror and saw that I actually… looked really good. I hadn't been wearing make up since I got to camp, as it was kinda pointless unless you were in the Aphrodite cabin. It wasn't heavily applied, or gaudy, it was more of a natural look.

I took it off, deciding that I wouldn't wear it. A knock came from the door, and I heard the shuffling of footsteps outside. I took one more look at the wrap, but since it's totally pointless- pointless but beautiful- I wasn't going to wear it. It might have seemed a little disrespectful to Aphrodite, but really, I could argue that _wearing_ it would be more disrespectful, since I might accidentally rip it or something.

I tossed my flip flops on the floor, shuffling into them. I was about to rush to the door when I saw the Ray Bans on my nightstand. I grabbed them, putting them on the top of my head, and rushed to the door.

-xxx-

"You clean up nicely," I said, smiling, when Percy showed up at the door, with Annabeth on one arm, his other free. He'd left the cabin for me to change in, and went to the bathroom so he could change earlier. Then he went to get Annabeth.

"Well, you have to, when you have a girlfriend as amazing as Annabeth," he smiled at her.

She blushed, saying, "He's an idiot, I knew that already," I thought it was adorable, after all this time, that she would still blush at things like that. He pulled her close and kissed the side of her head.

I looked them over to see that he was wearing blue-green trunks that were almost the shade of mine, but not quite, with yellow starfish patterns spread across the suit. He had a normal blue and white striped towel slung over his neck, which was more for sitting on than anything, because we really can't stay wet unless we want to, which would eliminate the need for a towel.

Annabeth was wearing a new, dark blue bikini top that looked really nice on her, and I assumed she was wearing matching bottoms, but I couldn't tell because she was wearing a pair of shorts over them. Her towel had the same pattern as Percy's. I saw that it said, since her's was folded neatly in her arms, 'Annabeth' in a neat script. It took me a minute to figure it out, but I managed.

When she noticed me looking at it, she grinned, "They're his-and-her towels, from the Aphrodite cabin, if you can tell."

"That's awfully kind of them," I laughed.

"You look nice," she told me, and Percy nodded.

"Thanks."

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, and held out his free arm. I checked to see if I had left anything, grabbing my towel that I had placed on the floor when I opened the door, and Madea's SPF 20 and 50 (50,000 would be saved for another occasion, like swimming in the forges or fighting drakons.)

"I'm ready," I confirmed, taking his arm.

-xxx-

There are parties, and then there are demigod parties. And then there are Olympian parties. I've been told to go for the Olympian, given the chance, but I suggest settling on demigod if the Olympian Party Pack isn't available at your local party store.

Because, well, shit. It looked like a normal beach party, except, well, _not_. The beach bash was being held on Fireworks Beach, with one side of the beach being occupied by the Nine Muses holding a concert, playing music that could be heard across the beach. The music, as I'd been told, was whatever you wanted it to be, because everyone heard something different. It could be classical, mortal tunes, or the same stuff you heard every night at the campfire. Me? I heard mortal music, of course. The kind of stuff I liked to listen to before coming to camp.

In front of the muses were a couple of people, a few demigods I recognized, a few I didn't, and one or two minor gods, who were either sitting on blankets watching them, or dancing in a weird mix of ballroom dancing and some kind of free form. Several naiads and nereids were watching them and listening intently.

Across the rest of the beach were demigods playing volleyball against the dryads, and a minor god keeping score. Girls and guys were sunbathing everywhere, and swimmers were taking to the surf. They were tossing around a beach ball, the nereids were shooting water at unsuspecting swimmers and the occasional sunbather, and everyone was laughing. It looked like they were all having a lot of fun. Refreshment stands dotted the beach, manned by flirting nymphs and chatty satyrs. The tables held fountains that shot nectar, and plates of ambrosia for the gods. Mortal food that was more demigod friendly crowded the rest of the tables which had been set up with umbrellas and wooden chairs. There were golden goblets lying around everywhere that would fill with any drink you wanted, like at the pavilion.

I was standing there gaping, and when I glanced at Percy and Annabeth, they were too. Clearly they'd never seen anything like it at camp, either. They quickly shut their mouths, and looked at each other, grinning. Percy jumped in front of us, and asked, "Anyone up for swimming?" with a huge grin on his face.

"I'll be there in a minute, I'm gonna go drop my stuff somewhere," I told him, and I couldn't hold down my excitement. I was practically bouncing.

"Catch up with us soon!" Annabeth said, waving, as she was dragged off to the water, dropping her stuff haphazardly on the sand near a Demeter girl, who was building a sand castle, and yelled, "Hey!"

I surveyed the area, and saw a spot on the hill Apollo and I had been sitting on a week or two ago. I trudged over, and laid out my blanket, kicking my flip flops off onto it, and dropping the bottles of sunscreen. I decided I didn't need so much sun at this hour, so I put on SPF 50, just to be safe. I figured I'd be swimming a lot, and I didn't want to loose them, so I put Apollo's sunglasses down on the towel as well.

We swam for hours, played several rounds of Marco-Polo (who, by the way, was a son of Hermes) which I may or may not have cheated in, and had lunch. Jason and Will Solace barbequed, and we threw the food we were sacrificing to our parents straight into the fire. On my way to sitting down next to Percy and Lou Ellen, I swear I saw a woman who looked just like Annabeth wink at me from where she was sunbathing on a wooden chair. But when I looked back, no one was there.

About an hour after lunch, I saw Emilie sulk into the party. She was wearing her normal camp clothing, but I could see the straps of her bathing suit that were peaking above the collar of her shirt. She took a look around, and spotting something that she apparently liked, she retreated to the shade of one of the surrounding trees. Where Mr. D was sitting in a lawn chair, holding a diet coke. From what I could see when I would glance over there, they were just sitting there, maybe exchanging a few words, till a volleyball went flying.

Three or four times the volleyball players had tried to invite Emilie into their game, but being Emilie, she stubbornly refused and stuck to her patch of shade. Eventually they gave up, and went back to playing. I wasn't paying close attention since I was building sand castles with Leo, who was a really excellent sand castle builder, by the way, but from what I piece together, a ball went haywire and hit one of the bystanders in the head. That bystander happened to be Emilie.

She stood up, and I could have sworn there was a dark fire in her eyes. She pulled her shirt off (leaving her shorts on, although the strings of the bottom suck out), throwing it to the ground, and marched off to the game, yelling, "YOU WANTED ME TO PLAY? WELL NOW I'M HERE TO PUMMEL YOU INTO THE GROUND, MOTHERFUCKERS."

Lets just say she dominated the game. The entire time, Mr. D's eyes didn't leave her. He sat back and watched her with his eyebrow raised, taking sips from his can of diet coke.

I was trudging up the hill half an hour or so after that, when I noticed _him_. He was laying on my towel, sunbathing, with his eyes closed. He was wearing a shirt, a light green tank, but I suspected he could still get a complete tan even whilst wearing that. I walked over to him, and stood over him. His eyes were closed, and he brought his arm up to shield his eyes from the sun (something I found ironic) as he looked up at me.

"Elena!" he said, with a grin, pushing off the blanket to sit up. He pulled his legs up to gross them in front of him.

"Hey, Apollo," I said, and couldn't help a smile from spreading across my face. I glanced around, but he looked like he came alone, "Didn't come with anyone?" I asked, trying not to sound too optimistic.

"Nah, what about you?"

I shake my head, dropping down to sit down across from him on the blanket, "Only Percy and Annabeth."

He squints at the sun, "Hold on," he said, "I've got a poem for this," I raised an eyebrow, "Ah, I've got it!

_The sun is very bright, _

_Like the moon at night, _

_You are a very pretty sight, _

_Elena_-"

"Clearly not bright enough," I mumbled under my breath, teasingly.

He cracked one eye open, and swatted at my arm, but I scooted out of reach, "That would have been one of my best hits," but he had a smile at the corner of his mouth, so I wasn't worried.

"Hey, Elena!" Percy called from a little ways away, waving, "Come here!"

I turned to Apollo, who had fallen back against the towel like he had been before, with his arm slung across his face, shielding his eyes from the sun. He cracked a grin and waved his free hand and said, "Go on."

I pushed off the ground, and over my shoulder as I jogged off, I yelled, "I'll be back!"

He waved his hand dismissively, again, and resumed sunbathing.

-xxx-

"Hey, Elena, guess who that is," Percy said, pointing to a dot in the distance. It was hard to determine what exactly was on the horizon, but it looked like a wave.

"Is that a… wave?" I ask, squinting again. But then it hits me, "Oh my god, is that Dad? _Surfing_?"

"The one and only," he tells me as the wave gets closer and closer.

When the wave was close enough to the beach that it would have normally crashed over the beach and soaked everything, probably destroying a few things in the process, Poseidon raised his arms and the wave collapsed into several smaller ones that splashed into the swimmers who were all cheering. Poseidon paddled in, and bowed his head to the clapping observers. He picked up the surf board and lodged it into the sand so it wouldn't fall over. Percy and I walked over to him.

"Elena, Percy," he said, and opened his arms, inviting us in for a hug. Percy looked at me and half shrugged, and we went in for the hug. He smelled of the sea and sand. We pulled back, and he smiled. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with patterns of palms and buckets full of sand.

"I want to tell you my answer to your invitation," I said, he clasped Percy and me on the shoulders, and looked between us.

"We have plenty of time for that later, my dear." he said with a twinkle in his eye. "But now, have either of you ever been surfing?"

I had been about to protest that there was only one surf board, and that it was much too big for me _or_ Percy, when I blinked and suddenly, there wasn't just one board, there were twenty. Poseidon had then lifted his arms the way he had before, and a rush of water came up, forming into a trident. He waved the trident, which looked pretty solid to me, and the rush of a breeze came up, spraying us all with sea spray. The waves started little at first, but then slowly grew into larger, surf worthy ones.

A guy in the water yelled out, "A chance to surf with the god of the sea? Count me _in_!" wading out of the water, and ran to grab a surf board from the line up.

I grabbed the one my father had pointed out to me, and went to join the others in the water.

-xxx-

After awhile of surfing, I stuck my board in the sand and collapsed on the sand next to Annabeth, who was watching Percy. He was even better than I was, but then again, he'd known he was a demigod longer. He waved to us, and we waved back. My father had forsaken surfing, and settled into a chair to fish. I didn't know if he actually caught anything, but I overheard a few Hermes campers planning to hook things onto it. Like one of the nereids.

"Whatcha' doin'?" I asked her, sprawling out in the sand. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, and she was tracing shapes in the sand.

"Nothing, really. I just finished a game of volleyball with Piper and Reyna."

I squinted at the sun, and shielded my eyes as I looked around camp. "I don't like volleyball very much. But gods, it's hot, isn't it? Why don't you go swimming? Or try surfing? It's actually really fun." I stood up, and grabbed her hand, pulling her up with me.

"I didn't know if-" she started, but Poseidon cut her off.

"I would allow it? You may join Percy in the waves as soon as you'd like, my dear."

"What? You don't mind me coming?" Annabeth asked, reeling in shock.

The twinkle in his eye hadn't subsided. He looked at her with a fond smile, "The animosity your mother holds for me isn't quite so reciprocated, child. And you seem to make my son happy enough," he told her with a wink.

"Thank you, Lord Poseidon," she said after a moment, "That means a lot to me."

She nodded to us, and breaking into a grin, ran to Percy, throwing her arms around his neck, talking a thousand miles per hour in between kisses as they were wading through the shallow water of the surf. Poseidon headed back to his beach chair over by the muses to fish, and it looked like he had a bite. Not wanting to know what exactly that bite was, I scuttled over to the other side of the beach, passing Annabeth and Percy, who were still making out in the water. I snorted as I saw Chiron come galloping towards them.

Chiron tried to separate them, but Percy only looked at him and said, "Legal adults," dragging out the last word, kissing Annabeth again, who giggled, and was fighting back a grin.

I shook my head, and stepped into the water. I could feel the currents and where the naiads were tossing a beach ball a little ways away, and some of the Aphrodite campers on floats dipping their toes lazily in the water. I heard Drew call, "Hey Elena, can you splash me with water? I'm getting fried but I don't really want to get in."

"Sure!" I called, and felt the familiar tug in my gut. It was good practice, trying to splash Drew without tipping her over or getting her hat or drink wet. She was sunbathing on a raft, and she already looked like she had a nice tan. The water rushed over her, and I could feel the excess heat from her body being soaked up into the water and flow back over into the sea.

"Thanks," she said, sipping from the goblet she held loosely in her hand. A few of the others perked up from their rafts, looking over at Drew longingly.

"Can you do that to me too?"

"And me!"

"Me too!"

I laughed, and agreed. I looked up at the sun, which wasn't quite as high in the sky as it had been earlier, and then behind me, to where I could see Apollo still sunbathing. I smirked. As soon as I finished soaking the floating heroes, I willed the water to rise up and fall in an arch, landing on top of Apollo, who was still on my towel. I didn't need to use that towel anyway.

He sat up, soaked, grinning down at me mischievously. As I watched, I could see and hear the water sizzling and evaporating off him. He got up and jumped down from the hill, coming at me.

"Elena! I'm going to get you for that," he called, teasingly. I stood there for a few moments, grinning, till he got closer, and started to grab for me.

"Catch me if you can!" I taunted, smirking, walking backwards as he advanced.

"C'mere, I hate to chase after pretty girls," he said with a grin, chasing after me. I shrieked and fled. His blonde hair was disheveled and I'm sure mine was too, but he looked absolutely gorgeous.

He was taller than me, thus had a longer stride, so it didn't take long for him to catch up with me. I had turned around, taunting him, just out of reach.

"Oh you just try and catch me," I said, he took another step, the grin never leaving his face. I turned back but then he grabbed me and I shrieked in laughter. We were pretty far from Fireworks Beach at this point, the party and music just a dot on the horizon.

"I just did," Apollo said, laughing, as he held me by my waist. I was out of breath, and so was he. Well, it seemed like he was. He was breathing heavily, and I could feel his warm breath on my skin. It made me shiver. I turned around to face him, his arms still on my waist. His eyes were lowered, but they met mine. I reached up and put my hand on his cheek,. He looked at me and said, his voice a little rough, "I love you, Elena," and I leaned up and kissed him. It was warm and nice, and a little less than chaste, and absolutely perfect.

We broke the kiss after a moment, and our foreheads were pressed together, our breath mingling. I whispered, "I love you, Apollo," and brought my hands up to cup his face, and kissed him again.

-xxx-

We stumbled back to the party awhile later, drunk on love and laughter. We were holding hands, and I was leaning on him, and in the dimming light no one seemed to notice, but that didn't mean anything. Demigods were notorious eavesdroppers. We sobered up as we got back to the other campers, because Chiron and my father were both there. The fire was burning and someone had lit the lanterns that had been hung earlier. But then again, they could be magic, since a daughter of Hecate, Lou Ellen, had been hanging them.

As the night came to a close, we had dinner around a campfire (of which, at the center was Leo, munching on marshmallows and whatever else was abandoned in the fire) which was barbeque again for me, made by Clarisse and Alex this time, and ambrosia for Apollo. We both had orange soda, and nibbled on mortal food like cheese-and-wieners and cheese puffs. When I made a sacrifice to the gods, I made two this time, one for my father (who was nowhere to be seen, which could mean anything from he left to go home, to him strangling the Hermes kids) and one for Apollo. I think his already impossibly bright smile got even brighter, at that.

Later, they had fireworks like they always have on the fourth of July. Spartan warriors fought across the sky, George Washington crossed the Delaware, and other displays of Greek victories. Percy and Annabeth were sharing a blanket a few feet away from us, and as we had sat down, I saw Rachel and Octavian sitting together. I figured I didn't want to know what they had to talk about. Leo and his siblings were all crowded onto one blanket, and his best friends, Piper and Jason were sitting in front of them.

Apollo, who was sharing my towel and holding my hand as we watched the displays, nudged my shoulder, "I met him, you know."

"Who, George Washington?"

"Yeah, great guy. Real intelligent, he even beat Ares at his own war games. Now _that _was an awesome decade. _Not _so great at chariot driving, though."

"You let him drive your _sun chariot_?" I asked incredulously, he shrugged.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," I laughed.

"I'm sure it did," I murmured, and he chuckled. We sat like that for another few minutes, until one of Apollo's kids ran up to us, breathless.

"Dad!" he cried, taking in a deep breath, "I mean- crap," he panted. Apollo had his arm on him, in case he fell, as he was wheezing.

"Take it easy, kiddo, we've got time," he told him. Neither of us were paying attention to the fireworks anymore.

"Lord-" he wheezed, "Poseidon," he gasped, "would like to speak with you," he managed in a quick rush. I tried to catch Apollo's eyes, but he wasn't looking at me. He seemed grim, and like he knew why he was being summoned. His face was turned away, he was looking off further down the beach, in the brush.

"I'll be right back," he assured me, and pushed off the ground. He jogged into the distance until I couldn't see him anymore. The kid collapsed onto the ground, falling asleep instantly. He was a first year camper, and I think he might have had light asthma.

Even though I knew it wasn't the best idea, hell, it was a terrible idea to spy on two gods, but I followed Apollo anyway. My father was standing in the trees, and Apollo was facing him. I could see my father's face, but only Apollo's back. From what I could see, they hadn't said much of anything, but Apollo's looked rigid, and my father looked furious.

Poseidon spoke, "You think we haven't all taken notice of what you've been doing, Apollo? Doing this to get back at me, toying with my daughter? I offered Elena the chance to live in my kingdom, to escape from you, but I don't think she's going to accept."

"Lord Poseidon," he started, but my father cut him off.

"Do you deny it?"

Apollo looked down, "No," he said, and it stopped my heart. Because all of this- the last few weeks, the last few hours, everything he'd ever said- was a lie. I was already turning away when he continued, "But that was before- I've fallen in love with her."

"You can't deny what you just- Elena?" my father said, his frown deepening as he realized I was there. I hadn't been very stealthy, that was Emilie's forte, not mine.

"Elena- this isn't-" Apollo said, and he looked panic stricken. "Elena!" he called, as he and my father followed me back to the beach, where the fireworks were just ending.

"I'm going to take my leave now, Father, Lord Apollo," I said stiffly, voice tight and controlled, trying to leash in my anger and sadness at being _betrayed_.

He was interrupted by an echoing voice spoken by a girl who was surrounded by green mist. Her normally green eyes were abnormally bright. Her voice sounded tripled, like there were three Rachels all speaking at the same time.

"_Two forbidden daughters,_

_In madness and in wine,_

_One will walk into her death, _

_And two shall be fine._

_A goddesses fear is soon to be true, _

_In the city of the false horse,_

_A silver bow must be found,_

_Before fate's thread is unwound."_

I got a sinking feeling that I knew who the 'forbidden daughters' were. Her eyes faded back, and the aura was gone. She looked pretty shaken up, but I felt shaken up. This, in addition to what had just happened with Apollo?

"I just said a prophecy, didn't I?" Rachel asked wearily, shaking her head. She was dressed in a bright green sweatshirt that almost matched the Oracle of Delphi's spirit.

"Shit," Apollo mumbled under his breath, but I was close enough to hear it.

"This cannot be good," Chiron said, frowning. He clapped his hands together, and spoke, "All head counselors to the rec room! Except Percy Jackson. He is to stay and watch over the cleaning up of the beach," Percy and a few other people groaned, "which is to start now," Chiron looked at me. "Elena, come. You are acting head councilor. I think we both know this concerns you."

-xxx-

**Alright guys, from here on out, I'll be writing the new chapters, hopefully pretty quickly.**


	11. The bus of monsters

Everyone was staring at the ping-pong table, between glancing at Emilie and me tersely. Almost everyone was still wearing their bathing suits from earlier. No one had a chance to change if they had come from the party. A few people had wrapped a towel around their shoulders, normal clothing abandoned somewhere on the beach earlier that day. My own included. All of the head counselors- Leo, Will, Piper, Jason, Emilie, Katie, Clarisse, Annabeth, Travis and Connor, Pollux, Lorri, Alex, Butch, Lou Ellen and six others from the cabins of minor gods- were present. Most of us were standing rigidly, but a few of the other kids were sitting in chairs, and Lori was slumped over on the table, fast asleep. We shouldn't have been able to fit around the ping-pong table, but somehow we managed to all squeeze in. Mr. D had a sour expression on his face from where he sat, a can of diet coke in one hand, but he wasn't drinking it. I glanced over at Emilie, who was trying to glance at Mr. D covertly, but having known her so long, I could tell.

Apollo had insisted on coming with us, claiming it was because Rachel was his oracle, but I felt his eyes on me more than once, even though he hadn't tried speaking to me at all since the oracle had spoken. I was pointedly trying _not_ to look in his direction for obvious reasons. He was leaning against the wall behind his son and Rachel, with his arms crossed across his chest.

We heard the clip-clop of hooves on the worn wooden floor of the Big House, as Chiron walked in, and everyone looked up hopefully. He looked grim.

"Chiron…" Rachel started, but was silenced when she saw his face. Her own went a little paler. The room was silent, with the exception of the soft inhale of Lorri's breath, as her chest rose and fell, and the occasional snore.

Chiron looked over all of us, sun burnt and tired, with eyes full of sorrow when they came to rest of Emilie and me, "As much as I regret to say this, I believe we all suspect who the 'forbidden daughters' might be," a few campers wearily nodded along, sneaking a few worried glances. The general consensus was that Emilie and I, who had both been born when the restrictions were still up on our fathers, were the 'forbidden' daughters it referred to, since technically our births were forbidden. Rachel was still frowning, looking anywhere but at us. It involved a lot of eye contact with the table. She turned to Chiron.

"Would this have anything to do with the other pro-" Rachel started to ask, but Apollo cut her off with a panicked look.

"No! Don't-" he practically leapt up, but then settled back down, "not right now, alright, sweetheart?" his voice softening in resignation. She was talking about the other prophecy, the one that had to do with me, wasn't she? I may have been dyslexic, but I wasn't stupid. Apollo was looking at me, but I refused to meet his eyes.

Chiron nodded to her, "Yes, child," her eyes widened, apparently piecing things together in her mind.

"Then one of the others is going to die?" she asked, but frowned, "No, that doesn't… feel right."

"That's not horribly cryptic at all," Katie Gardner rolled her eyes, swatting away Travis and Connor, who had flanked to either side of her, and were picking out the flowers she had braided into her hair. There was a nervous laughter that echoed around he table, but soon enough it was silent again.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "It's not supposed to be easy to figure out."

"Well I'm not going to let anyone die," I told her. She shook her head.

Rachel looked at me sympathetically from across the ping-pong table, "Don't try to change fate, bad things have happened to those who have tried."

"It is a quest, still. The goddess' call must be answered," Chiron told us

"The goddess would be Artemis, right?" Will asked, referring to his aunt.

" '_A silver bow must be found,'"_ she repeated, and nodded, "most likely."

"Then what's her fear?" Alex asked, leaning forward on the table with his elbows. Apollo's eyes narrowed and he stood up a little straighter.

"That isn't any of your concern," Apollo said, with his teeth clenched, "It's mine." His vice was rigid. I peered up at him, and found he was looking right at me. I looked away.

"Very well," Chiron continued. "Her bow, her symbol of power, appears to be missing. It was most likely stolen by a demigod, and, as you all you all know, gods cannot steal each other's symbol of power. We had hoped this situation could have been avoided, with all of the demigod children being claimed."

"She hasn't vaporized anyone yet, like Lord Zeus when his bolt was stolen by Luke, so she probably doesn't have a suspect," Annabeth provided, yawning. She rubbed her eyes as her curly blonde hair fell in her face.

"And none of our siblings are missing," Travis said, his arm over his brother's shoulder, and Connor shrugged.

"What did it mean by '_In madness and in wine'_?" Emilie piped up, glancing around. No one spoke, but looked at Mr. D expectantly. He sighed after a while.

"Oh very well. Pollux."

"Me?" Pollux looked up, startled, from where he'd been dozing off.

"Yes you," Mr. D said, taking a sip from the can, "it refers to one of my children, which would be you."

"You'll be our third person," Emilie proposed.

He looked panicked for a moment. Everyone was waiting for him to answer her, "You don't have to accept, Pollux," Chiron told him, but he shook his head, as if trying to shake himself out of his state of mind.

"No no, I accept. I'm just-"

"Then it's us three?" Emilie asked. "Elena, Pollux, and I?" A few of the campers nodded, as well as Dionysus, even though he didn't look too happy about it. The only two people he could stand at camp were leaving- who was to blame him? But then again, he _never _looked happy.

"But where do we even begin to _look_?" I asked. A few people shuffled around, like when they didn't know the answer in class, and didn't want the teacher to call on them.

"It said something about a false horse, right? Like, one that isn't actually a horse?" I was surprised when Jason spoke up eagerly, a light suddenly in his eyes. A few people nodded, "Like the _Trojan Horse_?" I wondered what he was getting at, eyeing him.

"That _does_ seem correct," Rachel said, her voice seeming lighter, Apollo nodded behind her.

"Well, a little while ago, a few kids from Camp Jupiter stumbled upon the city of Troy in New Mexico."

"Troy is in New Mexico?" Clarisse asked skeptically, crossing her arms. Her skin stood out bright red.

"Well the entrance to Hades is in California," one of the minor gods' kids said with a shrug.

"So, basically, Emilie, Pollux and I have to go on a quest, find Lady Artemis's bow in Troy, New Mexico, and try not to all die?" I asked. Emilie gave me half a smile. We'd wanted a quest for a while. Looks like we got one.

"It appears so. I would tell you to consult the oracle, my dear, but it appears she got impatient and consulted _you_," Chiron said with a wry smile. "You three leave in the morning at first light. Everyone is dismissed, but the three heading on the quest. Wait here to collect your bags," he told us.

Everyone else filed out of the building and towards their own cabin. It was past lights out, but it was clear everyone was still up and waiting to hear the news of what had happened from their head counselor. Chiron returned a moment later with three bright orange backpacks, probably from the camp store. They had each been packed with a few mortal, and a few _im_mortal, supplies: a change of clothes, one baggie of ambrosia and canteen of nectar, a cell phone (for really, really serious emergencies like when a hundred monsters are _already_ chasing us,) a few golden drachma, mortal cash, water bottles, medical supplies (gee, thanks, way to be optimistic, but really, good idea, it's better to be prepared, especially with Emilie around,) and granola bars. The usual stuff, of course. For demigods.

-xxx-

When I finally make it back to my cabin, I realized how absolutely dead tired I was. Percy and Annabeth were sitting together on the bed (in their pajamas, I assumed they had changed out of their swim suits only a little while ago, since Annabeth left the meeting only a little before me) holding hands. Their heads were bent together, and they were whispering furiously. They noticed me after a moment, and pulled apart a bit.

"I, um, was I interrupting something? I could go," I offer, standing awkwardly in the doorway, pointing outside, even though I felt as though I could have fallen asleep right there, standing and all. It had been a _long_ day.

Percy and Annabeth both shake their heads, "It's fine, c'mere," he beckoned. I traipsed over to my bed, and sat down in front of them.

"We were just talking about our first quest," Annabeth told me with a quirk of her lips, and Percy snorted.

"_That_ was a disaster."

"And I was telling him what went down at the meeting he missed while cleaning up the beach."

"Which only took about fine minutes," he grumbled good naturedly. "They gave you a quest, didn't they?"

"Yep. Pollux and Emilie are accompanying me, or rather, they're the other two on the quest, as they're the others referred to in the prophecy. We leave at the crack of dawn," I groaned, falling back on my bed, my legs still dangling off the side of the bed.

He nodded, "You'll be fine. When I went on my first quest, I had about three days of training."

"And _me_," said Annabeth, smiling. He grinned at her, bumping her shoulder.

"And Annabeth," she kissed his cheek, content, and then jumped up with what I thought was way too much flourish and energy for that time of night. There was a reason we had curfew and that most people stuck to it. We were all worn out by the time eleven came around.

"It's getting late, I should let you two sleep. My cabin should be wondering by now what took me so long. Bye Percy, Elena. Good luck on your quest, may the wisdom of Athena be with you," she waved on her way out.

I changed quickly, and fell into bed. I didn't fall asleep instantly, as I would have liked. I had a long day ahead of me. There was a good chance I had _many _long days ahead of me. But all I could seem to think about was Apollo and how I had fallen in love with him, and how he had told me the same in return, and for a few hours, everything was perfect. And then I found out that he'd been lying to me the entire time. He'd probably bumped into me on purpose at the club hat first time on purpose, _he'd_ been the one to call me that first time, and left his sunglasses with me so he'd have a reason to come back. Not that he would have needed to. Was it _all_ a lie?

It had to have been. Apollo was a god, easily the most attractive of the Olympian men. He could literally have any woman he wanted, so why choose a teenage girl? From what I had overheard, my father had wronged Apollo in some way, and he had formed a plan to exact revenge, and apparently I was the perfect way to go about it. What had been the plan, get me to fall in love with him, and then leave me heartbroken? He would be entertained for a few months at most, then leave me with a child? That was the problem with the gods. Not that I was complaining- that was how _I_ existed after all. But I just felt betrayed.

I fell asleep after tossing and turning, going over the night in my head, for nearly an hour.

-xxx-

I really wish I hadn't. Demigod dreams always suck. They're never just _dreams_. If I dreamed I was dancing around in a pretty meadow with flowering shrubs, it could very well mean I was going to get eaten by a hellhound next Thursday. Luckily, most dreams are clearer than that.

My 'dream' started off like I needed to be wearing glasses, with the entire room going in and out of focus. There was a moving shape, which was a dark blob, and a few other colors.

"Ah, how nice of you to finally join us," Mr. D said, with the image clearing instantly. He was standing in a room that looked like it was in the Big House, although I'd never been in it before. He was leaning over the pool table in the center of the room, using his cue to hit the ball on the table. He apparently didn't hit his mark, for he cursed in ancient Greek.

I blinked, "Mr. D?"

"How very observant of you, Eldoris," he said offhandedly, barely paying me any attention.

"Elena," I told him flatly.

"Whatever," he said, waving it off. He turned around to face me and propped himself up with the pool stick. He looked down, "You mustn't let them die."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Emilie and Pollux. Protect them. He's my son, and she…" he didn't finish his sentence, but I smirked.

"You actually _like_ her!" I felt like laughing. The fabulous, in his opinion, Dionysus was having trouble openly admitting he actually liked someone. A camper, no less! I was pretty sure that broke like a hundred different rules, and it was way worse than some off-limits nymph, but I didn't actually have a death wish, so I didn't vocalize my thoughts. He didn't answer, so I continued. "I'm guessing you want me to be the one to die, then?"

"That's the idea," I rolled my eyes. Mr. D could say whatever the hell he wanted, but I knew he actually had _feelings_. I could hold it over him forever. Well, for as long as I stayed alive, that is.

"Gotcha. I wasn't planning on letting them die if I could help it, anyway," I told him. The image was starting to go blurry again, when Dionysus spoke.

"He does care."

The dream changed.

Rachel was standing in the big house, and her eyes were glazed over. She was wearing only a single bead, so I could assume this was a few years ago. The Oracle of Delphi's spirit was already starting to take hold of her body. Her mouth opened, and the words came out like three Rachels were speaking.

"_A daughter of the sea,_

_No longer will be,_

_For she'll anger a goddess,_

_To whom she'll fall under duress._

_For her life,_

_The sun won't shine._

_To death's wife, _

_Apollo will fade._

_Another will perish,_

_By fate's cruel misfortune,_

_Yet she'll walk the earth once again,_

_As a goddess among men."_

Chiron's worried voice spoke from somewhere outside of my vision, "Dionysus- message Lord Apollo. And speak of this to _no one_."

-xxx-

That morning, Percy woke me at dawn, just as the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, and saw me off. He handed me the backpack that contained all of the things I was taking on the quest, and my sword. My sword wasn't anything special- just an average grade-A Greek sword made of celestial bronze. The norm- for a demigod. He waved from the Big House porch, still in his pajamas. When we reached Thalia's pine and the golden fleece, guarded by Peleus the dragon, he turned and marched off, presumably towards our cabin to finish sleeping before he would have to get up again at eight.

I took one last look at camp, hoping it wouldn't be my _last_, and sighed. Don't get me wrong, I was excited about the quest- we all were- it was just hard to have to leave camp all that we'd done there, even if we were coming back. Well, one of us wouldn't be. But we didn't want to leave on a sour note, so we all pushed that out of our minds.

Along with pushing that out, I tried to ignore the prophecy that I'd heard in my dream the previous night. It had to do with Apollo and probably me and some other girl, but it made _no sense_. It was frustrating, but then again, neither dreams nor prophecies ever made any sense. I decided not to tell Emilie or Pollux about my dream, for now, at least, as to not to worry them. But the other dream… I would keep my word. I didn't intend to let either of them get hurt, even if I didn't know Pollux all that well yet.

We trudged across the boarder, following Argus to the van.

-xxx-

As soon as we climbed out of the van and Argus had driven off, we started to look around for the bus stop that we'd been told about. Flying, because of Emilie and me regarding our parentage, was out of the question. We'd spotted the station, and had started to cross towards it, when I saw a guy with sandy blonde hair wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, jeans, loafers, and familiar Ray Bans. He was leaning on a red Maserati Spyder that was parked on the opposite side of the street. He didn't seem to have noticed us yet. I wanted to keep it that way. There was a bitter taste in my mouth as I turned to follow my friends.

"Hey, Elena, wait up!" I heard him call. I clenched my fists and kept walking.

I spun around when he finally caught up, and jabbed a finger at his chest. He took an involuntary step back in shock, "You _lied_ to me," I cried, "You only hung around because of some stupid revenge thing with my father!"

"Elena…" Emilie warned, looking between us, tugging on the sleeve of my bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.

"Stay out of this," Apollo said with a sharp look, and a wave of his hand silenced both Emilie and Pollux, who grasped at their throats, panic stricken. Emilie kept opening her mouth, but then would shut it a second later. It looked like she was unable to speak, but Apollo was still frowning.

"Apollo," I glared, crossing my arms.

"Oh don't worry, it'll wear off in a moment," he sneered at them. It appeared they couldn't hear, either. When he looked back at me, his eyes softened, and he tried again, reaching for me. "Elena, sweetheart."

I took a step back, biting my lip, knowing that if he got any closer, I'd probably forgive him. I wasn't able to stay angry with anyone for very long, especially the guy I was in love with, even though it had probably all been a lie on his part. _Why was he even trying?_ I wondered. Emilie and Pollux had stopped panicking, and were standing with their arms crossed, glaring at Apollo.

I sighed wearily, "What do you want?"

"I was in the area, and wanted to know if you wanted a ride," he told me, and I gave him an incredulous look. "It's on my way?" he supplied, with a shrug. I snorted.

"Uh huh. We don't need a ride."

"Well, at least take these bus passes," he said as he started patting his pants' pockets till he found the right one, and pulled out three passes.

"I don't want anything from you," I told him.

"Elena," Emilie said, pulling me aside, apparently able to speak again. "Maybe you should take _Lord_ Apollo's gifts," she said, eyeing Apollo, "We need them, and it's not like we have many options right now."

I sighed again, taking the passes, "Oh fine, but I'm not taking them for _you_," I told him pointedly. He held his hands up in surrender, backing off towards his car. I turned around, grabbing Pollux and Emilie by their arms, and dragged them towards the bus.

-xxx-

The bus that showed up and matched our bus passes wasn't a normal city bus, we quickly found out. The company who owned it, or maybe someone who had paid for an advertisement, had written _'Syracuse'_ on the side, and that was it. It was a really fancy bus, with a bathroom in the back (which had mosaic tiles that formed pictures, but I hadn't paid any attention to what they were,) somewhat comfortable seats (as comfortable as bus seats can get, anyway. They were plush and covered in a velvety fabric,) and televisions every few seats. When we boarded, I saw one of those 'maximum capacity' signs. I thought it must have been a joke, because it read 'Maximum Load Capacity 1942 Passengers, and/or 1,800 Tons.'

It was playing _Troy_, the one with Brad Pitt, that didn't include any of the gods, when we boarded. I tried not to see the irony in it.

We took seats near the back, with Pollux and Emilie on the left two seats, and me on the right window seat. We put all our stuff in the aisle seat next to me, so not to crowed the area around our feet if we needed to get out quickly, and it was all within reach. It had been surprisingly easy to board, with no one stopping us and demanded we give up our swords, or even go through our bags, even thought I could have sworn the driver and the passengers as we went down the isle could see our swords and bow. But worst-case scenario, Pollux could help us with that. He was excellent at manipulating the mist.

I shouldn't even have been surprised that they didn't even give us any funny looks. As I was going down the isle, I noticed the eclectic array of people around us. One man was wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants, gloves and a ski cap, even though it was practically boiling outside. He was clutching what looked like a solid gold hand bag, and his eyes were shifting around wildly. A plump woman was petting her Chihuahua, saying, "Don't you worry now, Sonny, we'll be there soon, Mommy promises," and I didn't think busses normally allowed pets, but they let _us_ on, and we were carrying swords and a bow, so we weren't ones to judge. There were a couple others like that, and needless to say, we steered clear of them.

The bus made a few more stops throughout the day, but no one was really paying attention to them. Pollux and Emilie had started up a conversation, but had shortly gotten into an argument. Stubbornly, neither of them wanted to give in and move away from the other, so they turned away from each other, with Emilie looking bored whilst staring at nothing in particular, and Pollux resting his head on his arm, watching the sights blur by outside.

The first group to get on after we did was a group of teenage girls. They looked pretty normal, except that when they walked, there was this loud, almost metallic, clunking. As they were taking their seats at the front of the bus, one of the girls' pants' leg rose up, and I saw that her leg was _metal_.

At one point, a big group of guys who were wearing "I heart Canada" shirts and had been sitting behind us, got off. Some of them had brown paper bags that looked positively soaked with grease, and were waving them around while laughing obnoxiously. I wasn't sorry to see them go. If I had to hear _one more word _about this Babycakes person…

One or two more people got on or off the bus over the course of the next few hours, but for the most part, it was straight driving. At one point the driver had announced that it was the vehicle's maiden voyage, and that after Troy, the final stop was to be Alexandria, VA. I suppose it didn't matter where the final stop was going to be, as it was heading to Troy first, and that's where we needed to go, but I did think it was a little odd, that the bus would be heading halfway across the country before stopping at it's final destination, which had only been a few hundred miles from it's starting point.

I pulled out a book early on, to read. I hadn't seen it in the backpack at first, but it _had_ been rather early when I first looked through it. I figured Annabeth had slipped it in there either last night, or Percy had placed it in there this morning while I was getting dressed. It was a book of classical Greek myths (facts), _in_ Greek. It wasn't any harder than reading English, and I supposed it was probably to help me with my Greek as well as refresh me on all of the monsters and gods. Regardless, the stories were as fascinating as usual.

After awhile, when we'd been on the bus pretty much all day, the bus stopped for gas. It pulled up to the local Monster Doughnut, and we were told we could all get off and grab a snack inside, or to stretch our legs, as long as we got back in under twenty minutes, otherwise it'd leave without us. The girls with the metal legs took the opportunity, and hobbled off the bus. As did a few others, and the woman with her dog, taking him for a walk, I presumed. The man with the gold handbag, however, stayed firmly in his seat. We were one of the last ones to leave the bus, and as we were waiting to get off, I looked at the gas station outside the window. Something about it sounded incredibly familiar, but I couldn't recall where I'd heard the name before. It was on the tip of my tongue…

"Let's go in, I want a soda," Emilie said.

"We're not here for _sodas_," Pollux said disapprovingly.

"To make a sacrifice to your dad," she said offhandedly, saying a bit more harshly, "I'm _thirsty_, you idiot."

He reluctantly gave in. We walked passed the milling group, and walked into the store. It looked pretty clean, almost new, but kind of like a group of minotaurs had come in after a football game or something. Emilie went to the back to grab a soda from the refrigerators, and Pollux looked like he was seriously considering buying that wine. I guess he decided against it, because a few minutes later, I saw him with a bag of grapes in one hand. I myself had found a bag of chips and a soda, along with a few sandwiches and bottles of water to go with the ones we'd brought. Emilie showed up a moment after we did, happily sipping on her soda.

I looked around, "Hello?" No one answered. I frowned. That was strange. Weren't gas stations usually supposed to have at least _two _workers at all times? Especially when they were also like, a doughnut place, where someone has to make the doughnuts and sell them?

"Anyone there?" Pollux called, and peered over the counter like I'd been doing. No one appeared to be around.

"Um, I guess we'll just leave the money on the counter?" I called out, and Emilie and Pollux looked at me and shrugged. I put the bills from our bag on the counter. Emilie climbed over the counter and grabbed us a few plastic bags to put the food in, and then we went back outside. We figured we had roughly five minutes before the driver called us all back.

When we walked outside, we froze. Standing maybe thirty feet from us was the woman with her dog, and a _hydra_. My heart went cold as I slowly reached for my sword. Pollux and Emilie both seemed to have the same idea. Pollux reached for his bow, which was strapped to his back, and Emilie took out her hair clip, which turned into her familiar sword.

"Don't move," Pollux whispered, his eyes not leaving the hydra, "if it even looks like it's going to come in this direction, attack pattern Psi," Emilie and I nodded quickly. We'd all taken the same classes at camp, so we all knew what that meant. It wasn't so much of an attack, per say, as it was a defensive move that could turn _into_ an attack if necessary, like when you were fighting those really hard to kill monsters that you _could_ kill, it would just probably also get you killed too. It involved mainly backing up, back to back (or in a circle) with your weapon, and shield if you had one, raised defensively. Not exactly the best plan, especially against an acid-spitting hydra, but it worked sometimes. So I've been told.

We stayed there for another minute or two, watching closely, but the hydra didn't seem interested in us at all. In fact, it was at the woman's feet, bowing it's head almost obediently. She was patting it's heads, and said, "Now now, that's a good baby."

"Um," I said, pointing, "why isn't it eating her?"

Pollux's eyes widened slightly, "I'm more interested in why she's _playing with a hydra_."

Emilie's grip tightened on her sword in reflex, and shrugged, "She probably thinks it's just a poodle. Or a really big iguana."

We relaxed slightly with that, Pollux strapping his bow back on, Emilie putting the hair clip back in, and me putting the sword back in it's sheath. We still stand on guard, ready to run or attack if something goes south. I froze. Suddenly, I remembered where I'd heard the name before.

"Oh my gods, guys," I whispered, looking at the girls with the metal legs and the plump woman with the dog, and the other people who we'd been riding with for hours, "I think they're all _monsters_."

"That… makes a lot of sense," Pollux said slowly.

"What do we do now?" I asked quietly. My hand went to my sword strapped to my hip again, and I saw Pollux and Emilie's hands clench, and move an undeterminable distance towards their respective weapons. They glanced at each other, exchanging worried looks, then at the monsters milling around. The bus driver walked back towards the bus from where he'd been smoking a little ways away.

He called out, "Alright, everybody back on the bus."

We exchanged glances, and Emilie said, "Well, now we decide whether it's worth it to get back on."

-xxx-

**Okay guys, sorry, I would have been finished with this chapter and had it updated either yesterday or the day before that, but my wifi went out on Sunday and it wont be back on till Monday, so I had to go to my aunt's house to use hers.**

_**Also**_**, if any of you got that reference to Archimedes' ship, then kudos to you my friend, kudos to you. You are truly knowledgeable in the world of Greek mythology. (If you can't tell, I absolutely adore those little references to mythology Rick Riordan makes.)**


	12. We go to wine hell of a wedding

**SHIT. When I posted this, I didn't look over the chapter again, because Whitney had just read it on my laptop and made a few edits, but unknowingly she deleted a paragraph and I didn't catch it till now. But I fixed it.**

-xxx-

In the end, it was Pollux who made the decision.

"Why haven't the monsters eaten us already?" he asked suddenly.

"Probably because they already ate demigods for breakfast or something."

"_Or_ they didn't know we were demigods because they couldn't smell us."

"Great," I said sarcastically, "Apollo gave us passes to a bus full of monsters that couldn't smell us. Of course he did."

"Last call for boarding!" the bus driver declared gruffly. He tossed the cigarette that had been dangling from his fingers onto the cement, stepping on it, grinding it into the ground until the lit end was extinguished.

"Well?" I asked, glancing at my friends. They shifted nervously. I didn't blame them. Being this close to so many monsters was absolutely terrifying, it made _me_ nervous too.

"I say we go," Pollux said, adjusting the strap on his backpack, "Lets push our luck a little more," he half smiled before making sure the arrows were all still in the quiver attached to his hip. Emilie's hand flitted to her sword, and shifted her own backpack on her shoulders.

"Because that's worked out _so _well for us before," Emilie grumbled, but followed us as we went back to the bus.

"Wait!" we called, running up to the bus just as it was about to close it's doors. We boarded hastily, taking the seats we previously had in the back of the bus. We eyed everyone wearily as we walked stiffly down the isle, but none of the monsters seemed interested in us. We started to relax after the better part of an hour, and decided to pass the time by trying to figure out which monsters were which. We were using my book as a reference, reading paragraphs and looking at pictures, pointing at the entry we thought was a certain monster, as names had power, and we didn't exactly want a whole bus of monsters to suddenly notice us. We did that for most of the day.

I was starting to wonder who _did_ put the book in my bag after all.

We figured the man with the gold handbag was actually holding a solid gold hand bag, and that he was probably Midas. I bet that the cap he was wearing were hiding donkey ears. We had a good laugh with that one. It was pretty easy to determine what the group of girls with metal legs were as well. When we'd gotten close to them, they'd smelled like horses. And trust me, my dad _invented _horses, I knew what they smelled like. They were probably empousai, Pollux figured, if the horse smell and a metal leg were anything to go by.

"I have no idea what Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn over there are, though, do you?" Emilie asked, and nodded her head in the direction of a man and woman sitting side by side six or seven rows ahead of us. They were pretty in the old fashioned kind of way, and they didn't exactly look like they were from now. But then again, with the Lotus Casino, which Percy warned us about, they really didn't _have_ to be from now. Emilie seemed to recognize them, however.

"Um, who are Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn?" I asked. The latter name seemed familiar, but I didn't know from where.

"The movie stars? Roman Hol- didn't you guys ever see that?" she was received with blank looks from both Pollux and I. Just because Emilie and I were best friends didn't mean we shared a common taste in movies. "Oh never mind," she grumbled.

-xxx-

When it got dark, we decided that when we wanted to sleep, and we would do it in shifts. We didn't want to let our guard down with all these monsters. That kind of thinking would get us killed. We couldn't be lulled into a false sense of security. It worked out fine for a little while, with Emilie and I taking the first shift. However, Pollux drifted off sometime in the night, and didn't wake me up for my shift, and then I didn't wake up Emilie for hers.

When I woke, Emilie was slumped over on Pollux's shoulder, and he was leaning on her, using her head as a pillow. He was snoring, and I realized that he'd fallen asleep before waking me up. The bus had started to slow down to stop, and it was light outside. I hissed, "Emilie, Pollux!" Neither of them stirred, so I pulled out one of the granola bars and threw it at Pollux's head. He awoke with a yelp. "Guys, you both fell asleep, I have no idea what time it is, although it looks like the sun just rose.

Pollux checked his watch, "It's seven thirty."

The bus slowed to a stop, and the bus driver called, as the doors swung open, "Final stop for Troy, New Mexico," we exchanged glances, and then scrambled to get up and off the bus.

We grabbed our bags and weapons (which we took off to avoid stabbing ourselves in the middle of the night,) and ran down the isle, calling, "That's us!"

As soon as we got off the bus, the doors snapped shut and drove off in a cloud of new Mexican dirt. As soon as the bus was out of sight, we turned to look at each other.

"Holy Poseidon, how fast was that bus _moving_? That should have taken at least two days!"

"I have no idea. But I do know we shouldn't have been able to get that far in a day under normal circumstances, on a normal bus."

"But it wasn't a normal bus, though, was it? It was a freaky monster bus."

"You can say that again. But I am glad it got us here."

We turned to look around. We had been dropped off on the outskirts of the town, at a little bus stop with a stone bench, with town being roughly a quarter mile away. As we header closer, the buildings became clearer. The town looked to be a rather rustic, older town, with orange-brown Mexican style buildings, that seemed almost Greek. The roads surrounding the town, including the one we were walking on, were all dirt. Off to the left, in a clump of shrubs, was a single, run-down chariot. I was missing a wheel and it looked like it was covered in years of grime. I poked Emilie, who looked at the chariot as well.

"Is that…?"

"Yeah."

We resumed walking, and passed a sign saying WOLCEME OT ROYT which was probably WELCOME TO TROY. When we finally entered town, we could see that smack in the middle was a large, wooden horse. Well, it was shaped like a wooden horse. From what I could see, it was actually a playground shaped like a wooden horse. Playing on it were a few children with foam swords. I thought that was rather ironic.

"I didn't expect them to have an _actual _wooden horse," Pollux said, shaking his head.

Since it was only about eight in the morning, we decided we should eat something before looking around. We were all hungry, and I'd spotted a little diner on the way in, so we circled back around to enter it. The theme was red and white checkered, and it had a few bored looking waitresses in short dresses popping bubble gum. We grabbed a table, putting our weapons onto it, and our bright orange backpacks hanging from the chairs.

"This is probably the first quest in the history of forever to actually _go right_," Pollux said as he draped the backpack over the back of the chair, sitting down.

"Don't say that!" Emilie hissed, "it'll jinx everything."

He soon came to regret that sentence, when ten minutes later, before the waitress even brought us our drinks, we were welcomed into Troy by the welcome committee of nightmares.

-xxx-

It started out normal enough. The doors opened and the bell jingling, to reveal an older and a younger man, flanked by two guards. Then the older man spoke. He had white hair and a beard, looking harmless enough in a white button-down shirt and slacks. He turned to us, and said, "Welcome to Troy, Greeks. I am the Mayor of this humble town, and this is my son," he gestured to his son, the young man looking to be in his late twenties, with dark hair and attractive features, "We understand you're in town for our little… exhibit."

That caught our attention. He could clearly see through the mist, and he was probably referring to the bow, which they apparently had. We were about to stand when the young man stepped in front of his father, and said, "That's him father!" he gestured to Pollux excitedly, practically jumping up and down, "That's my Helen!"

"Me? What?" Pollux squeaked, paling.

The mayor looked Pollux over calculatingly, with shrewd eyes, "Are you sure, Paris?"

Paris nodded eagerly, "It's him, father. _He_ said Helen would come for the bow! Hector will be so happy for me!" Helen, Paris, Hector… the wooden horse playground, Troy. Something clicked.

"Guys," I whispered, as not to draw the mayor or his son's attention, "What if this is the _real_ Troy?"

"Elena, I think we've established that we're in the right town," Emilie whispered back.

"Not just like, New Mexico," I hissed furiously, "But the _real_ Troy, the city from _Greece_."

"But that's not-"

"-Ahem," the mayor cleared his voice, catching our attention. We looked up from our whispering, with our heads bowed together, "You're very right, my dear," he said to me. "I am King Priam, I mean, _Mayor _Priam," he said with a frown upon his face, "This is Paris, and this," he gestured to the diner, and probably the whole town, "Is Troy."

We sat there, stunned. We'd of course heard of the many places that had been moved as part of Western Civilization, but this was the first time any of us had really come across such a place of our own accord. In the time that it took us to stare blankly at Priam, Paris had strolled over and taken Pollux's hand, pulling him up. "What, may I ask, is your name, my dear Helen?"

"Uh… Pollux."

"After the child of Zeus, who fought against us in the war, no doubt. But you are not a son of Zeus, now are you, my love?" Pollux was too shocked to respond, so Paris continued, "But alas, your beauty makes up for it."

Pollux' face turned thirty different shades of red, which would have been funny, had we not been so taken aback with the whole thing. He looked back at us with pleading eyes. Paris, still clutching his hand, led Pollux out the door and onto the street outside. Emilie and I exchanged glances, quickly following them, grabbing our bags and weapons from the table, meal forgotten. We were shortly followed by Mayor Priam. As we pushed open the doors, and the bell tinkled, we found ourselves outside just in time to see Paris fall to one knee, and say, "My love, my life, my dearest departed wife, Helen, Pollux. Marry me. Again."

"I'm a guy!" Pollux protested.

"I'm not picky!"

Pollux started to protest, but I saw a light go on in Emilie's mind, and she started waving around, trying to cut him off from saying no. He hesitated, then looked over at us. She started to make exaggerated beckoning gestures, and it was a wonder no one saw.

"Let me speak with my friends, I need time to, um, decide," he said breathlessly.

Paris frowned, "Friends? _Female_ friends of yours?" He didn't look happy.

"Um," he faltered, "Handmaidens?" he offers.

"Ah," Paris nodded, "Yes, go speak with your handmaidens, my darling."

"Handmaidens, Pollux? Really?" I said, smacking his arm, making sure neither men saw, when he had made his way over to us.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Yeah, handmaidens. Deal with it." He turned to Emilie, "Now why did you want my attention? Other than to discuss _Paris of Troy's_ dating methods. I was about to say no."

"That didn't look like a 'no' to me."

"It _was _a no."

"Whatever you say, Pollux, I'm sure it was-"

"Not now," I interrupted, glancing up at the men watching us. "What's your plan, Emilie?"

"Well, how do you feel about… marrying into getting possession of the bow?"

He glared at Emilie, "Absolutely not."

"Pollux, we _need_ the bow," she stressed. "And you wouldn't have to _actually _go through with it."

He faltered, "What do you have in mind?"

She smiled brightly, "Excellent. Tell him you accept his most _gracious _offer, but on one condition- you want Artemis's bow as an engagement present."

"Are you _absolutely_ sure I won't have to marry him?" Pollux asked hesitantly.

Her smile fell slightly, as though she was trying not to grimace, "Pretty sure."

"Well if you're _pretty sure_, then," he grumbled under his breath.

"Oh, but before you go, what'd he say before, when we were still in the diner?"

"He told me he thinks I'm the reincarnation of _Helen of Troy_."

"… Well are you?" she asked, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes at him, as though she were examining him.

He didn't dignify that with an answer, turning away. As he marched off to Paris, who stood with the mayor, I heard him mumble under his breath, "I'm so not drunk enough for this shit." When Paris sees him, his eyes light up animatedly, and I almost felt bad about what we were about to do. Almost.

"Have you made a decision, my love?"

Pollux glared back at us, but took a deep breath, and asked, "… Will there be wine?"

Paris blinked, then said, "Certainly."

"Then I accept. But on one condition. I want an engagement present."

He didn't hesitate, "Anything."

"I want the bow. Mine is worn out and old," he said, taking off his bow, showing them, "Do you see this? I'm surprised it even works anymore. Artemis' will make a lovely replacement."

"Of course," he agreed, nodding. "Father?"

"Very well, son," he said, pulling out his phone. He pressed a single number and hit enter, bringing the phone up to his ear. "Start the preparations," he says into it.

"Um, what preparations?" Pollux asked, looking to Paris.

"For the wedding, of course!"

"We're getting married _now_?"

Mayor Priam, who had still been speaking into the phone, held his hand over the mouth piece, and said to his guards, "Men, escort these handmaidens of his out of town and, ah, _deal _with them."

"No!" Pollux shouted, before either Emilie or I even had a chance to react. He floundered, "I mean," the men stopped advancing momentarily, and looked back at the mayor, "I need them. To help me get ready, and… stuff. I want them to come to the…" he glanced at Paris and flinches slightly, but neither Paris nor his father seemed to notice, "… wedding. They've been especially helpful, and I consider them to be close acquaintances."

We looked at him like _What is wrong with you? _but he mouths _I didn't know what to do_ and shrugs.

The mayor looked at Pollux for a moment, and I thought he was going to call him out on it, and order his guards to kill us all, but all he said was, "Are you sure? We can get you ten just like them."

Pollux nodded hastily, "Yes I'm sure, I need these specifically."

"Very well. Men, take my son-in-law and his handmaidens to their chamber for now. Paris and I have matters to discuss."

-xxx-

Once we were alone, Pollux glared at Emilie, "You said I wouldn't have to."

She shrugged, "I said _pretty sure_."

The guards had taken our bags and weapons almost immediately. None of us were very physically imposing, and I suspected they were probably mortals anyway, so we didn't have much of a chance to escape. We were taken to the mayor's house, which was actually a _mansion_, with flowering vines climbing the walls and high, wide windows. The main entrance held several display cases of expensive, prominent Greek items, such as Hera's golden apples, or the pelt of the Nemean Lion. The main exhibit was in the center of the room, and clearly the focus of the exhibit. Artemis's silver bow was in the display case. We were so very close, yet it was so far out of our grasp. I was positive that if we so much as touched the glass, much less break into it, alarms would sound, and another hundred of Priam's men would come form everywhere.

The room we were eventually settled in was panted a dark blue or purple, and had curtains covering most of the windows. We threw them open as soon as the guards left, and contemplated jumping. Not seriously, though. Well, not very seriously. We weren't sure who's room it was, but if we had to guess, we'd have said Paris', as Pollux was supposed to be marrying him. We'd been confined in the room for about an hour when there was a knock on the door.

"Hello?" I called.

"Pollux, my love, are you there?

Pollux didn't say anything, and when I glanced over, he was staring blankly out the window. He'd zoned out, I suspected. Emilie jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. He yelped, and then covered his mouth, "Yes?"

"Honeybunches, are you ready?"

"Fuck, um," he hissed under his breath. "I'm almost ready," he called.

"I'll see you in a little while, then! My men will come to escort you to the wedding in half an hour. I love you, dearest. Till then."

Emilie jabbed him again, "Oh, um, yes, you too."

As soon as we heard Paris' footsteps fade, he asked, "Now what do we do?" Emilie put a finger up to her lips, in a _be silent _gesture, and crept over to the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it, opening the door a crack to peer outside.

"Damn, there are guards on either side of the door. Still. Looks like you're going through with this after all, Pollux."

"What do I wear? I've been wearing these clothes for two days, and they took our bags!"

"I doubt they would have let you get married in a Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans anyway. Much less that Souvenir from a wine tasting," I told him.

He groaned, "My dad is going to kill me for loosing that! It was his favorite of my shirts!"

"I'm sure he'll forgive you under the circumstances," I said dryly.

Emilie skipped over to the window, standing on her toes to stick her head out as far as it would go, to look at something along the wall, "How do you feel about growing grape vines?" she asked Pollux, turning her head to look at him.

He looked confounded, "Great. I'm great at it. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Because you're going to grow yourself a crown."

"Why?"

"Because you need to look nice, stupid."

-xxx-

"Why can't I just grow these vines thick enough to use as a ladder and just climb down them to get the Hades out of here?" he complained, grumbling. The vines that had been near the base of the building in a vineyard were already growing quickly up towards us. Within another minute they'd be at the window and growing inside. Pollux was hardly doing anything more than leaning on the windowsill, thinking about which type of plant he wanted to grow towards him, or whatever it was that sons of Dionysus did to grow plants. I figured that it probably wasn't very different that the way I could control water at will, or I supposed, the one time with the earthquake. Even though it was unintentional, the other plants surrounding the building were growing like mad, going crazy in his presence.

"Because we still need the bow, and I think they might get a little suspicious if we suddenly disappear."

"Or I could tell them I needed new handmaidens, they wouldn't ask questions."

"Yeah but you don't want to do that, because you'd have to stay here forever," I said as I swung my legs off the end of the bed, watching Pollux lean on the window sill, and Emilie go through the closet. We'd found that some of the clothes that were in the closet fit Pollux. It was either a coincidence, or the Trojans had been stalking Pollux all along. We went with the former.

Emilie stood up, pulling out two shirts, holding them up. One was purple, the other white, "Now, pick a color."

-xxx-

The actual wedding went off without a hitch. Pollux only stumbled over his vows six or seven times, and no one tried to kill us. Pollux went with the white shirt, to Emilie's displeasure. I believe that might have been part of the reason why he did it. He actually likes to bicker with her, I think. Good naturedly, of course. He also wore a circlet of grape vines in his curly blonde hair, and even I had to say he looked adorable. He started to pout when we told him that, though. The vines were kept alive due to his being a son of Dionysus, most likely.

After he'd gotten dressed, the guards Paris told us about came and escorted us to the room where they were holding the wedding, and ushered Emilie and I inside. We sat in one of the back rows. The room was overcrowded, and we'd taken some of the last seats. Everyone was talking excitedly, and I told Emilie that I didn't think dead Trojan war heroes had that many friends. Apparently they do.

Standing next to Paris was a man I could only assume was Hector, his brother. Well, one of them. It occurred to me then that a lot of the people in the room must have been the rest of Priam's fifty sons and daughters, Paris's siblings. But since there were more than a hundred people in the room, it was probably their husbands and wives and children too. And then, farther out, it seemed like the entire town was there. For a moment, I thought I saw Mr. D, but when I looked back, it wasn't him.

Pollux stumbled down the isle, but managed to make it to the alter, where Paris was waiting, in one piece. After the vows (which Pollux said through gritted teeth), Paris practically carried him to the reception. We were swept up in the crowed and simply followed the masses.

The banquet hall where the reception was held was tacky, with off white coloring everywhere. The banquet tables, which were piled with wine and food, looked rented, and all had those skirts that are Velcroed on.

Emilie and I grabbed a plate of food (because hey, we had to eat, and our breakfast had been interrupted by a guy who just married Pollux) and shuffled around, looking for Pollux. We eventually spotted him, sitting there miserably next to his new husband. Next to him were three or four empty wine and champagne glasses, and his vine circlet was laying crooked on his head. Even from across the room we could hear the congratulations and awards of a "job well done" in regards to kidnapping Helen _again_, I guessed.

Pollux spotted us, eyes brightening, mouth slack. He mumbled something, and then ran off, only to appear at our side a moment later, "That was one of the worst things that has ever happened to me."

Emilie and I laughed, "Don't worry, I don't think you'll have to. This guy looks like a lifer," I said, patting his shoulder sympathetically. He frowned. "Don't worry, we should be out of here soon."

"So you've got a plan?" he asked.

Emilie nodded. But as soon as she did, Paris called out, "Has anyone seen Pollux?" Pollux shrunk back, trying to avoid being seen. It worked, temporarily.

"You need to distract him! We'll come get you later when we have the bow!"

"How do I do that?" he cried.

"I don't know, he's _your_ husband! Go seduce him or something!"

Pollux looked ready to jump in the bowl of punch and drown himself. I felt bad for him, but somebody needed to stay at the party, and it was probably best that that person was the guest of honor. Paris called out again, and Pollux got a determined look on his face, and turned to go find his husband.

"I am definitely not drunk enough for this," he grumbled, grabbing another glass of wine off the tray of a passing waiter, downing it. Paris slid up next to him, taking the glass from his hand, placing it on a different waiter's tray as she passed.

"Drinking so early, my love?

He looked at him for a moment, then said dryly, "It's five o'clock somewhere," and with the pass of another few guests, disappeared into the crowed. I turned to Emilie.

"How the hell do _we_ get out?" I asked her. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then pointed to the doors.

"People are leaving all the time, we just have to act like we're one of them," I nodded, and we sauntered over to the door, following a couple who were laughing merrily. But as soon as we got to the door, it was shut in our faces.

"Where do you think you're going?" Priam asked. He was flanked by another two guards. I held back the urge to groan.

"The bathroom?"

"But you must _never _leave this place."

-xxx-

**Alrighty, I know it's unusual for two chapters a day, but I just finished this one, and the previous chapter was finished days ago, just, as I said, my internet was down. So two chapters today! And I may or may not get another chapter up before my birthday, which is in three days! **

**Also, for any of you who wanted to know: Whitney is working on Emilie's story, she's just getting at it a little slower than I am, but it should be up in a few days.**


	13. We steal a Ferrari

"Do you see that one, gods-awful, off-white tile in the middle of those white tiles over there? Three feet from our backpacks?" I asked, nodding my head in it's direction.

She craned her neck to see it, "Oh my gods, _yes_. Its been bothering me for an _hour_."

"Dear gods, me too," I told her. We were tied together, back to back, in chairs, in a stark room somewhere deep in the mansion, which was probably their modern-day version of a dungeon. Upon attempting to leave the party (to sneak off to steal the bow, which we _didn't_ admit to) we had been 'escorted' read: kidnapped, to the room and tied up, by Priam's men. We weren't exactly the most stealthy demigods ever, and we certainly weren't going to be accused of being children of Hermes anytime soon. When we had asked Priam why he didn't just dispose of us now (which probably hadn't been the smartest thing to ask him, since he might have simply forgotten, but no one ever accused us of being children of Athena, either) he had told us that he didn't want to miss any more of his son's wedding than we had already, and he wanted to personally oversee our riddance himself. He had left us alone, confident that we wouldn't be able to reach our backpacks and weapons which were in a pile ten or so feet away.

The instant I saw our weapons upon being manhandled into the room, I felt relieved, even if we couldn't exactly get to them. It was comforting to know they were there. It was great that our bags hadn't been destroyed or thrown out, too. Ambrosia and Nectar weren't exactly common supermarket items, and I would've felt bad if some homeless guy (who wasn't actually an ancient sea god, and no, you probably don't want to know) had picked either item up and been burned to a crisp because of it.

"I swear to gods I'm going to murder whoever put that _one goddamn tile _right there if I have to see it for another fucking minute." I hoped the gods didn't actually take her up on her offer, since it looked like we weren't leaving any time soon.

"And I would _help you_. Why would anyone in their right mind do that?"

"_What_ on Gaia's earth are you two rambling on about?" an annoyed voice drawled from behind us. We jumped and I started swearing in ancient Greek as we turned towards the speaker, who was leaning against the door in his normal obnoxious t-shirt and skinny jeans, with his legs crossed, floating a few inches above the ground.

A few years ago, after his wife, Ariadne, had left him, Aphrodite had given Mr. D a makeover (much to his displeasure) which made him seem… almost like a normal god. He was even a little bit attractive, but he still had his horrid personality, though, so it almost didn't matter what he looked like. Of course, he didn't just go around telling people about the circumstances of his makeover. The Aphrodite cabin had heard it from their mother, and then had spread it around camp. At the time, it was still a touchy subject with him (and still is, apparently- I saw a kid get turned into a squirrel the other day for simply mentioning his ex-wife) so needless to say, those Aphrodite kids were the first of many to get turned into various objects (temporarily, as he was forced to give into Chiron's chiding.)

"_Mr. D_? What are _you _doing here?"

"I should have hoped that your insolent mortal minds would have known better than to get caught, but I was sorely mistaken," he said, stepping over to us. "It's my son's wedding, of course I'm here. Now go stop my son, before he makes the biggest mistake of his life. I've never liked those Trojans."

"I knew I saw you earlier, at the wedding!" Referring to the man I had seen at the wedding a few hours previously, who I had thought was Mr. D. I'd apparently (at the time) been mistaken, so I hadn't dwelled on it till now.

Meanwhile, Emilie was muttering under her breath, "What can be worse than marrying Paris of Troy? He dies and his brother marries Helen."

"Very few things," he said dryly, cutting our bonds with his godly magic or something. As I turned towards our things, he pulled Emilie aside. She stiffened, looking uncomfortable. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I turned away. They were whispering, and were almost out of my hearing range, but I managed to catch a few words. Okay, yeah, I was eavesdropping a little bit, but Emilie had hardly told me anything about this thing with her and Mr. D, so I couldn't help being curious about my best friend and the god she may or may not like. I snuck glances in their direction, trying to look like I was going through the bags. I didn't know if Mr. D noticed me, or even if Emilie did, but if they did, they didn't show it.

"…avoiding… kiss."

"No… on a quest…. Later," He studied her for a moment, his arms crossing over his chest as he finally let go of her arm.

"Well do you want me to fix the tile?" he asked, raising his voice, sounding irritated. I could clearly hear them.

"Um, yes?"

"Well I'll fix it when you stop _avoiding me_!" he snapped, and then suddenly disappeared.

I turned to Emilie and the spot where Mr. D had been moments before. My mouth was open, about to reluctantly thank him, because he had actually been _helpful_ for once. Emilie was rubbing her wrists where the bonds had begun to dig into them, leaving angry red welts. I heard the murmur of voices coming from outside the high window.

"Shit," I said, hastily, "We should go."

"Yeah," she agreed. We grabbed our backpacks, and strapped our weapons on, taking Pollux's as well, figuring he'd want his things, along with a change of clothes, when this was all over and we had managed to escape this weird version of Troy. If we managed to escape. Emilie crept over to the door, because while she wasn't exactly the most convincing or graceful person ever, she could be pretty stealthy if she wanted to be, being a daughter of Hades and everything. I thought I was about as sneaky as a water buffalo, but she seemed to be stealthy enough for the two of us, at the moment. "Okay, hurry, no one's out there."

Emilie slipped out the door, and I followed shortly. We inched our way down the hallways, peering around every corner to make sure the coast was clear. Oddly enough, no one seemed to be around. It could have been a coincidence, but, as we know, there's no such thing as a coincidence for demigods. It either meant that a god, like Mr. D, had blessed us to where they decided to wander off the moment we got close, or they were waiting to ambush us. I hoped it was the former.

After a few minutes, we found ourselves in the hallway where Paris' room was. I recognized several of the fake topiaries that were plotted strategically around the hallway. And, like the rest of the building so far, that hallway was barren of guards, or well, anyone, as well. Emilie seemed to hear something from the room, as she had far superior hearing than that of a demigod or mortal, moving slowly towards the door. She held a finger up to her lips, and gestured for me to follow. She shifted Pollux's bow on her back, which she had elected to carry, since I'd taken his backpack. My hand went to my sword on instinct, but she placed her hand over mine, shaking her head. I heard the muffled moans echo from the room, and Emilie and I exchanged glances, and I knew that we both knew exactly what was going on in that room. We suspected it had been Paris', after all.

We took one last look at each other, and praying that they were still wearing pants, flung open the door to see- as we expected- Paris and Pollux making out on the bed. Neither of them were wearing shirts, but- thank Zeus- they were wearing pants. As much as I liked Pollux, I felt that I really didn't need to see him in that way.

Pollux looked up and gasped, blushing a deep red. He was on top of Paris, who seemed only mildly annoyed with our barging in. He lifted his head and glared at us, as Pollux hastily pushed himself up, legs on either side of Paris' waist. Emilie smirked at him as he tried to make himself presentable. Paris had his fingers laced in the belt loops of Pollux' pants, and was tugging on them, trying to pull him back down. Pollux was shaking his head ever so slightly.

I rolled my eyes, marching over to Pollux, grabbing his arm, and said, "Time to go, lover-boy."

I pulled him off of Paris, as he cried, "Whoa!" as he tumbled off the bed, loosing his balance. I pulled him along before he had the chance to regain his balance, and Emilie and I didn't even pretend not to see when Paris pulled him back down for a final kiss. When he released Pollux, Paris lounged lazily on the bed, watching us with a look of slight displeasure. He didn't try to stop us when we left, dragging a flushed Pollux with us. I didn't know if I should be worried- he might call upon a hundred armies or something, like the _last_ time Helen was taken from her husband, but he looked pretty resigned to not moving.

Emilie didn't say anything as we ran down the hall, only raised an eyebrow and tried not to grin at Pollux as he pulled on one of the extra shirts we tossed him. "It wasn't what it looked like!" he tried to protest.

"Uh huh, it looked like you were enjoying that after all," I said, teasing. I poked him in the ribs. The three of us looked at each other, biting back grins, and then we all burst into laughter. We couldn't run another step, peels of laughter emanating from us. We stayed there, giggling in the hall for a good few minutes. We were grinning, and I hugged them. "Hey, this isn't so bad after all."

They shook their heads. Pollux looked between us, determined, "Now, who's ready to go steal that bow?"

-xxx-

After our laughing fit, Pollux took back his bow, and inspected it, making sure they hadn't damaged it, and shouldered his backpack. We figured out where the entrance was, and positioned ourselves at the closest door. Emilie had agreed to go first, because she tended to blend into the shadows.

She handed me her backpack, in case she needed to make a quick exit. Pollux mouthed, "_Three, two, one. Go_."

She pushed the door open and ran inside. Pollux and I looked at each other, silently. He looked down at his watch, but after only about thirty seconds, the door opened. We tensed, and looked up from our crouching position, ready to fight, but it was only Emilie. I raised an eyebrow, but she only shook her head.

"The room is completely empty," she told us. We'd expected it to be crawling with guards, or at the very least, have a few guards, well, _guarding _the treasures. But as we saw when we were lead into the hall, it was barren of men, like everywhere else.

"Where _is _everyone?" I asked. Pollux shrugged, and Emilie wasn't paying attention. We tossed our backpacks down in front of the display case, and I put my hands on my hips. Pollux crossed his arms, and Emilie mirrored him.

"It looks, um, pretty solid?" Pollux said, and I gave him a half shrug, "I don't think it's bulletproof or anything, so it should shatter pretty easily."

I held out my sword, figuring the hilt could be used to break the case, "Who wants to do the honors? Pollux?"

Emilie nodded, "You should do it, you had to do all the heavy lifting and all that," she leered, but there was a teasing light to her eyes. A light blush dusted his face, but he took the sword. Emilie and I kicked the bags out of the way, and took a step back in case the display shattered, or he swung the sword in our direction by accident. It wouldn't be the first time a demigod (namely, me) had done that. He pulled his arm back, and with a blur, swung the butt towards the glass, shattering it. As soon as his fingertips brushed the silver bow, which, now not separated from us by glass, seemed to radiate power, a screeching alarm went off, and the room flashed red. We had to shout to be heard over it.

"Oh shit oh shit," I said, at the same time Emilie spoke.

"Guards are coming! _Holy Hades_, that's a lot of men," Emilie said, turned towards the door we had come in with slightly widened eyes.

Pollux grabbed the bow and quiver, which still held silver arrows, and shouted, "This way!" heading towards the sold oak front doors. When we reached them, they seemed to be locked from the outside. Emilie slammed her fist to the door in frustration, and looked miserably towards the door we entered in. "Fuck, which way?" Pollux asked, making her look up.

She glanced towards the door that was opposite the one from which we came, and concentrated for a moment, "I think this way has less guards. It's our only chance!" She ran towards the other door, and we followed, flinging it open just as men exploded from the other. We slammed it shut, but a moment later, it was pulled open, and a bunch of really buff guys in black and cameo jogged in after us.

I knew there was no way we could beat them- they were twice our size, and _mortal_. They'd quickly overpower us. I prayed to my dad, but nothing happened. After a moment, the wailing of the sirens seemed to fade out, with everything except the sound of boots hitting the ground as we skidded around the mansion, trying to evade them. I felt a familiar tug in my gut, and it was like I could feel the vibrations of so many bodies hitting the ground, and the earth around me. There was a loud rumbling and the earth started shaking.

"Go!" I yelled, pushing a stumbling Pollux and Emilie along. The earth was crumbling at our heels, and all I could think was, _earthquake_.

The hallway behind us collapsed, and the tug in my gut lessened until the earthquake was nothing but a few pieces of debris and rubble falling from the makeshift blockade it made.

We stopped to catch our breath, when Pollux asked, wide-eyed, "What was _that_?"

I looked sheepish, "…me?" he stared at me for a second, and opened his mouth to ask another question, but I cut him off with an apologetic smile, "I didn't, um, kill anyone, did I?" I asked Emilie. She shook her head.

"You probably knocked a few guys unconscious, but they're all alive," I nodded, satisfied, then looked around. We'd ended up in a hallway with one door leading out.

"Ready?" I asked. They nodded, and I opened the door. It opened up to a driveway sort of place, with several expensive cars. A few black ones, a silver one, and at the far back, a bright red Ferrari stood out. "Anyone have any qualms about stealing Paris' Ferrari?" I asked. They shook their heads.

"I think that falls under the 'what's mine is your's' category of marriage," Pollux said, and I broke into a grin.

"Excellent." We maneuvered around the other cars and to our surprise- and delight- the keys were in the ignition, and it was almost completely full of gas. Pollux opened the door, and popped the trunk, where we threw our backpacks and the bow. We piled our weapons on one side of the backseat, where I crawled in next to them. Pollux took the first turn driving, since he was the oldest and lest likely to kill us, but mostly because he played the, "This is _technically_ my car," card.

I didn't mind. Much. We went like two hundred on the abandoned roads out of Troy, and while I would have liked to have been the one driving, I knew I'd get my turn, and it was really exciting to see the New Mexican sights blur by.

-xxx-

Considering it had been mid afternoon when we left, it quickly became dark as we sped towards New York. Once it hit eleven PM, we were all pretty much falling asleep at the wheel, Emilie included. It was her turn to drive, after me. I went after Pollux took his turn, and it was about time to switch drivers again, but as it didn't look like any of us were suited to drive at the moment, we decided to call it a day, and stop for the night in a little motel in Oklahoma.

The woman at the front desk, a Spanish lady whose whole appearance seemed tired and weary, eyed us suspiciously when we asked for one room. Not wanting to explain that we were demigods, who usually slept in the same room as our siblings and opposite sex relatives, and didn't want to be separated in case we were attacked by monsters or Paris caught up to us, I stepped forwards and said, "We're cousins." It was an over simplified version of the truth, but it _was_ the truth. Worst-case scenario, Pollux could manipulate the Mist, but he didn't know if he was capable of doing it at that hour.

She looked us over skeptically, and settled on Emilie and I, her eyes flickering to Pollux. Emilie smiled sickly-sweet, "He gets his blonde hair from his mother," Pollux scowled, and I could tell that he wanted to say, "What else do you know about my mother?" Emilie pretended to cover her mouth, leaning in to whisper, "He's just jealous I know his dad better than he does, because I spend so much time in the infirmary."

Pollux mumbled, "A little too well, you're there _all the time_." She, still smiling, elbowed him. I smiled at her as well.

She ended up giving us the keys without calling security or the national guard or anything. We concluded that as a win.

As we made our way to our room, thinking of what Pollux had said, I thought of Mr. D and Emilie's conversation from earlier, when he had rescued us. "Emilie, what were you and Mr. D talking about earlier? I only heard snippets, but it seemed like you were talking about a kiss, and something about 'later'."

Emilie paused, and we turned to look at her. She was looking at me, her eyes slightly widened, "Well... it's... I...it's nothing _major_," she said, trying to sound casual, but I knew her better than that, "I just kissed him, like, _once_. It's not... important."

Pollux' eyes narrowed slightly, not in malice, but trying to clarify, "You did _what _to _who_?"

She looked slightly sheepish, but shrugged, "Your dad and I have a... thing. It's a thing that's... a thing, I don't know. That's just what it is."

"A... thing," he said slowly.

"Yeah, that's about right."

He looked at her four a moment, then shrugged, and nodded, "A thing. That I understand."

The corner of my lips curved upward, but thinking of kissing gods brought up memories of Apollo. I sighed when we started walking again, and shoved the thoughts of Apollo back down. Now was _not _the time for that.

Our room was on the second floor, with shabby curtains and awful blankets. Emilie and I shared one bed, but she threw off the blankets almost immediately. She'd always been like that, while I wrapped myself in as many comforters and sheets as possible. We figured, now that we knew our parentage, that it was probably because she was a child of the Underworld, where I've been told it's absolutely freezing. I wouldn't like to visit anytime soon.

We feel asleep quickly, and didn't wake till the sunlight streamed in from the windows the next morning.

-xxx-

When we checked out, it was around ten in the morning. We'd gone to breakfast, and then piled our stuff back into our backpacks, and headed down to the car. We were carrying our weapons, which most people would have only seen as like, baseball bats and, well, normal archery equipment. They probably just thought we were really active, athletic young people in town for a competition or game.

We had to pass through the pool, skirting around the edges, as while _I _wouldn't get wet, both Pollux and Emilie would, and it would not be a pleasant ride soaking wet. Suddenly, a young, dark-haired guy who was sunbathing on a pool chair, jumped us, looking at us (or I think he was, he was wearing sunglasses), said, "Holy shit what are you guys doing?"

We started at him blankly, and he gestured to our swords, "You can see that they're swords?"

"Jesus Christ what else would they be?" he said, eyeing us like we were the crazy ones.

Pollux turned back to us, "He can see through the Mist, I'd guess."

I shrugged, as it wasn't too rare for a clear-sighted mortal to run into demigods on a quest, calling out, "Um, nice to meet you!"

"No, really," the guy called after us, "Why do you have swords?"

-xxx-

We drove for another two days, stopping for the night when we got tired. It took us a lot longer to get back to NY than it did getting to Troy, as we didn't have the luxury of a magic bus to drive us around. Even if we did, I don't know if we would have risked it. We arrived back in our city early in the morning, since we were only a few hours away, and we were eager to get the quest over with.

Emilie pulled up on the curb a few blocks from the Empire State Building, which housed Mount Olympus. We hopped out of the car, grabbing our bags.

"Do we have everything?" Pollux asked, looking himself over, while we did the same thing to ourselves. He was carrying his own bow, and backpack. I had my things, and Emilie appeared to have hers. She clipped her shape-changing sword into her hair, to leave her hands free to carry Artemis' bow and quiver. After once last check over ourselves, and a quick glance in the car, Emilie and I nodded. He threw the keys in the front seat, as we didn't intend on coming back to it, although Paris probably wasn't going to be happy about that.

As always, there were like a billion people around. I sighed. I missed my city. We walked the few blocks to the Empire State Building, but we were on the opposite side of the street. Emilie and Pollux started to cross to the other side, as it was just within reach, when something caught my eye. On one of the street light poles, where a bunch of advertisements for various clubs or tattoo parlors or bands were glued on, were two "Missing Persons" papers.

I found myself staring into the eyes of my fourteen-year old self, a picture taken of me at Emilie's fourteenth birthday. Her aunt had taken nearly a hundred pictures, although she never got most of them developed. I hadn't minded, I was laughing, with Emilie sitting next to me, just out of frame. I slowly pulled the paper off the pole, and called out to Emilie, not looking up, "Hey, Emilie, you really need to see this."

"I'm kinda busy trying to finish the quest!" she called back over her shoulder.

The paper was black and white, with my full name, Elena Westlie, age sixteen, last seen: Archipelago Academy. It listed a few other things, and ended with a plea from my mother to return safely. I felt sick. I pulled the other one down. It was nearly identical to mine, except it was for Emilie. Were our faces plastered all over the city? I mean, technically, we _had_ run away, but my mother knew what we were!

"No, you _really _need to see this," I said, glancing up from the posters. But who I saw when I looked up wasn't my best friend. I was staring into the cold eyes of Artemis the Huntress. Her eyes gleamed like liquid moonlight, regarding me with a cool determination. She pulled a bow off of her back- it wasn't her bow, probably one of her Huntresses'- and notched a silver arrow. Words lodged in my throat when I realized that it was aimed at me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emilie and Pollux looking at something in front of them, across the street, back turned to me.

I was frozen in place. I don't know whether it was fear or something else that held me there, but I couldn't move as Artemis drew back the string and released her arrow. It hit true to it's mark. A direct hit to my heart. The last thing I heard before succumbing to Hades cruel grasp was a cry of "Elena!"

**-xxx-**

**I promise you this is not the end.**


	14. I sit in a bubble of death

**I hate to do this to you guys, but there's been another change. Don't worry! It isn't big at all. It's just that this fic is going to be in three parts. It will all be in this one fic, though, so you won't have to go looking for it or anything! Right now, you're still in Part 1. You'll know when you get to parts 2 and 3, and if you look at the chapter titles, you'll now see a 'P1' on chapter 1, signaling the start of part 1.**

**Another thing: these two stories wont be the only demigod love stories we're going to write. If you check out our author profile (which you can find by clicking our name) you'll see a timeline for this story and the other stories in the same 'verse. **

**I'll be writing a few, and Whitney will be writing a few- so if you like this, there's a good chance you'll like my others! While some on the list might not be posted yet, you can still follow this account to get updated when we do post them- and I promise it will be as soon as possible.**

**While you don't have to read them of course, they're going to be rather helpful in the latter parts of this fic, since they will tell the stories of characters introduced in parts 2 and 3. All of those characters will be gathered together to create a story similar to the way ****The Heroes of Olympus**** is set up. We're even going to write a few Demigod Diaries!**

-xxx-

There's no easy way to describe dying, or being dead, unless, well, you've _been_ dead. And I doubt many of you have been. Dying was… it wasn't really painful, as I didn't have time to register the pain. It happened almost instantaneously, but it wasn't a good feeling in any case. But being dead- it felt… almost empty, rather like I was falling and being pulled in a certain direction, but I wasn't sure in which direction I was supposed to be going, and it was like my thoughts were dulled- it was hard to really think of anything.

For some reason, I didn't go through the normal channels- I didn't ride Charon's ferry, I wasn't judged by the ghosts, and I didn't go to Asphodel, the Fields of Punishment, or even Elysium (not that I had really expected to, my death was entirely un-heroic.) I awoke in the Underworld standing on the bank of the river Styx, black sand sifting around my feet when I shifted. Charon was paddling closer and closer, so at first I thought that I was waiting for him, but suddenly, it was like an invisible rope was pulling on me. I was taken past everything- all the way into Hades' kingdom, Erebus. It was strangely beautiful, with glittering gems and florescent plants contrasting the darkness. There were two thrones- one silver, one bone, the latter on which the Lord of the Dead sat. Emilie's father, I had to remind myself. Looking at him up close, I could see the resemblance. When the invisible cord deposited me in front of the thrones, I fell to my knees in front of Hades himself, who paid me no heed. He either didn't see me, or more likely, just didn't think I was important enough to warrant his attention.

I was suddenly encased in a clear bubble, which was completely solid, and didn't break, no matter how much I pounded on it. It was completely clear, almost plastic-like, and my fingers made no marks where I touched it. A few moments after being enclosed in the sphere, I slipped into a semi-unconscious state.

-xxx-

The vision started while I was 'asleep.' I don't know how, but I knew that what I was seeing was happening at that very moment. It shouldn't have been, as it seemed like I'd been in the Underworld for a long time, but I suppose I didn't have the best perception of time as a ghost.

Emilie and Pollux had just reached the top floor of the Empire State Building- not the _mortal _top floor, but the top _top_ floor, Mount Olympus. The doors slid open with a ding, but they just stood there for a moment, uncomprehending. There was a haunted look in their eyes, and they appeared dazed, with still-slick blood drying on their hands and a few spots on their clothing. _My blood_, I realized. The doors started to slide shut again, but then Pollux blinked a few times, clearing his eyes, and gritted his teeth, an angry look on his face. He stepped forward and caught the doors before they closed.

"Emilie," he said, his voice cracking. She looked up at him, and her eyes were red. She sniffled, and wiped her nose on her sleeve. He was still holding open the elevator, so she shuffled out behind him. They turned to each other, and he held her gaze, "Ready?"

She nodded, "I'm fine. Well, no, I'm not, but let's get this over with."

They turned towards Olympus, but what they saw made them both gasp. In the early morning light, and crisp air, the city was glittering and alive. It looked like an ancient Greek city, except, well, here today, with pristine and white marble, accents of gold and blue. Torches and fires made the city glow thirty different colors, from bloodred to indigo. Dotting the mountain were multilevel palaces, with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers, like we had at camp, just like, a million fold. Roads wound up the mountain, leading to the open-air market that was already set up and bustling with gods, dryads, and satyrs shopping for goods, things like discount ambrosia or magical hair pieces, at the many colorful tents. Parks and gardens littered the mountainside.

The gardens were in full bloom- honeysuckle, jasmine, and roses in colors I didn't even know existed, glowing vibrantly. The vision was so real I could smell them- sweeter than anything I'd ever encountered. It made me long for things I never knew while I was alive. The streets were full of people- I couldn't tell whether they were demigods or gods or nymphs- riding on chariots or being carried on sedan chairs by Cyclopes. Music seemingly drifted from everywhere, the soft voices from the Muses holding a concert, reed pipes and lyres. An amphitheater was to the right of the city, built into the face of the mountain, with a hippodrome and coliseum on the opposite side.

Pollux and Emilie were still gaping at the city. I knew Pollux had seen it before, but having just seen it for myself, I knew that it would floor anyone- the second, third, hundredth time they saw it. Something seemed to jolt Emilie out of it, and she tugged on Pollux's arm. They wound their way up the mountain, occasionally stopping to ogle at the sights, but they eventually made it to the most elaborate and ornate palace of all- the hall of the twelve Olympian gods. The two of them stood in the courtyard in front of the gleaming sliver gates. The gates swung open without them even announcing their arrival. Taking a breath, they strode into the throne room.

The thrones made a U shape, like the cabins at camp used to, long before Emilie and I first arrived. I could figure which thrones belonged to whom, based on order, and what they were made of. Demeter's was woven apple branches, Dionysus' was flowing grape vines, Apollo's was solid gold, Artemis's silver, my father's a seat you might see on a deep-sea fishing boat. Zeus, extremely large, was sitting on his marble throne in a pinstripe suit. My father was sitting next to him in his normal Hawaiian shirt. His expression was grim, and I felt as if he knew what had happened, the general idea, at least, if not the whole story.

Apollo was mortal-sized, leaning on the foot of his throne, Artemis standing a few feet away, her arms crossed. In the corner were three goddesses- Hecate, Hestia, and one other I didn't recognize. She wasn't one of the major gods, I didn't think.

Apollo was the first to notice Emilie and Pollux when they walked in, or at least, the first one to react. Pollux was still wearing a guarded look, while Emilie just looked lost. Apollo had a grin on his face- _had he been a part of this from the beginning?_- but it faltered when he saw that it was only the two of them. He stepped forward, and looked between them, and then around, his voice faltering when he said, "Where's- where's Elena?" He looked around, as if expecting me to suddenly show up, and say, '_Surprise! Sorry I'm late!' _or as if they were hiding me.

He asked again, his mouth dry, "Where's Elena?" He looked distressed, "Elena!" he called once more in desperation.

Suddenly, and angry look stole over Emilie, "Can't you feel it?" she snapped at him, "She's dead!"

He froze, and narrowed his eyes, "How could you _let her die_?"

Pollux's nostrils flared in anger, "How could _we_ let her die? She was our friend! And she was murdered by _someone_ with a grudge and a bow."

Apollo stared him down, his face betraying nothing, but his eyes burned like the sun, harsh and unrelenting, "Listen up, _demigod_-"

"And who _else _here has a bow?" Emilie shot at him, "And perhaps, an old grudge against her father?" They'd never gotten along, but this proved an opportunity for them to really duke it out. He looked at her, offended. He was starting to glow in anger, and I knew that if he changed into his godly form, and she didn't look away, it would blind her.

"_Me_? You're accusing me?" he said. I'd told Emilie about what he'd done, earlier. She only said something along the lines of 'I told you so.'

"Silence!" Artemis commanded, her voice ringing clearly across the room, despite her childish appearance. Everyone- Zeus, the goddesses, and my father- who had only looked pained the entire conversation- looked at her. "I killed the girl."

The room was in a shocked silence. I had long since guessed that my friends hadn't seen my murderess, either by her escaping or shielding herself from their eyes.

Pollux broke the silence with a horrified, "_You_ killed her? But this quest was for you!" She gave him a terse nod.

"How _could _you? I'm in love with her!" Apollo said, and my heart skipped a beat. Or, as much as it could with me being dead. There was no reason for him to keep up the act after I was dead. So it wasn't an act, after all? He had loved me?

"Orion, it was for Orion," she said, her chin pointed upwards in defiance.

"You cannot kill my daughter in an act of retribution that should have been settled thousands of years ago!" my father said suddenly, bringing his trident down to slam on the floor. Emilie and Pollux flinched, but no one else in the room seemed phased at all. The three goddesses in the corner were looking upon the conversation with great interest.

"I apologize, Uncle, but as my sister Nemesis once said, 'An eye for an eye.' I do not expect it to happen again."

My father sat back in his chair, which creaked under him. His eyes tossed like the raging seas, but he didn't speak again. I could feel the ocean radiating from him, and it wasn't calm.

Zeus looked at her for a long moment, and then said, "Very well, my daughter. See to it that it doesn't happen again. You have been sated."

She nodded, but Apollo protested, "What- Dad- you can't just let her off so easily! I was going to ask-" he cut himself off with a scowl.

"Apollo," Zeus chided, "Your sister is right. You did kill her favored mortal."

The room was silent once more, neither of my friends daring to speak. Artemis said lowly, to where only the gods, and apparently, me, could hear her, "My only regret is not making you kill her, like the way you tricked me into killing Orion," she said haughtily, a final blow. He just looked at her, and walked out of the throne room. She looked at his retreating back with an expression of almost… regret, but it was gone almost instantaneously.

She turned to my friends, "My bow?"

Pollux walked over to her, stiffly, and placed it into her outstretched hands, the bow still caked in blood from where, I assume, they had tried to resuscitate me. She gave a nod of thanks, and vanished in a wash of light.

-xxx-

Sometime later, I suspected, since it was hard to keep track of anything in the underworld, I had another vision. It was in real-time, as well.

Emilie and Pollux had made it back to camp, and had to tell everyone I was dead. I didn't see any of that, but I assumed it happened, since I was seeing my own funeral. I don't know how they'd gotten my body back to camp- but it could have been any way from the magic of the gods (although I didn't know which one) to Argus picking them, and my body, up. I was wrapped in a sea-green silk shroud, presumably made by Percy, (and I suspected, Annabeth, since it looked beautiful and Percy is _not _known for his skill in arts and crafts,) which was embroidered with a trident, the symbol of our father.

Everyone was camp was present. Some more dry-eyed than others. Lou Ellen was sobbing in Alex's arms, while he just looked up at the sky. Even Clarisse looked a little remorseful. Percy was standing in front of everyone, next to Chiron, holding a torch to light my shroud. He looked miserable.

"I- she was really great, okay?" he said, and a few people sniffle and nod, "She was the best sister I ever had." No one corrected him about the fact I was the _only_ sister he had. "And I'm going to miss her. We all will. She was brave and-" he got choked up, and lit the shroud. It went up in flames, and he went to the back of the crowed, where Annabeth was standing, holding out her arms. He went to them gladly. She chocked back a sob, and buried her face into his shoulder. He stared at the ground, his eyes red, as my body and shroud went up in golden smoke.

I remembered meeting Annabeth. In the first few days of camp, when she was assigned to be my Greek tutor. She'd laughed at my awful translations and told me, "You're almost as bad as Percy!" It was a lot funnier later. I hadn't really known Percy well before I was claimed- he was _the famous Percy Jackson_, a living legend. He'd always been nice, and funny, from what I'd seen of him, but I'd known Annabeth first. She seemed to be taking my death pretty badly, but I knew she'd get over it. She had to- people died every day.

During the entire burning of my shroud, Emilie was pointedly looking anywhere but at my body. I didn't blame her. She didn't normally go to this type of thing, but she'd made an exception for me. If she ever came down to visit her dad or anything, I'd have to thank her. If she could hear me in this bubble.

Pollux had become really good friends with us over the course of the quest, and he seemed to be taking my death badly, too. He wasn't crying, but his face looked red, like he had been.

-xxx-

I would have thought the burning of my body would have set my soul to rest and given me respite from the visions, but apparently the visions didn't care about giving me peace. I spent my time alternating between random bits of visions that I sometimes didn't remember, but mainly, I just sat there, watching a moping Hades. Occasionally he wasn't there, but for the most part, he was.

One vision, which, like all the others, occurred that very moment, was a lot more upbeat. Emilie had gone back to her activities, somewhat, (she went to as many as she had normally, and that wasn't very often,) but she was still dragging herself around. At that moment, she sat on the porch of the big house, orange camp shirt and shorts, with a white bandage on her arm. She didn't look particularly pained, but also like she hadn't planned on moving any time soon.

Pollux was leaning on the railing next to her, half in the shade, drinking from a juice box. His hair was a mess, and he looked like he'd just gotten in a fight with Gaia- he was smeared with dirt and grime, a stick still lodged in his curly hair. Suddenly, a man ran up to him, and pulled him into a kiss. He let out a muffled, "Mmmph!" as he fell backwards onto the porch floor, with the man on top of him.

Emilie jumped up, her eyes wide, "_Paris?" _she cried. He sat up, bringing a dizzy Pollux with him.

"The one and only. I haven't seen my husband for a little over a week!" he said with a slight frown, "I've let him have his fun with his friends- but regardless, it is time for him to come home with me."

A little over a week? Which meant I'd been dead about a week, I calculated. It hadn't felt like a week, but then, I wasn't exactly _feeling_ much nowadays.

"Actually, Paris, I sort of... like it here. We're building a city. Where we can... live. Together. If you want," Pollux said, with a firm expression that was given away by the blush in his cheeks. He was looking anywhere but at Paris, who's face lit up at that. He pulled Pollux in for another dizzying kiss, then jumped up, pulling up Pollux behind him.

"I thought you would never ask, my love!" he said. Then, calling behind him as he dragged Pollux off, "Good bye, Pollux's friend! We are off to finish what we started before you and the other girl discourteously interrupted!" Pollux's face flashed a deep scarlet, his eyes wide as he mouthed at Emilie for help as he was dragged away, though he didn't put up much of a fight. Emilie grinned widely at him, waving him off, and I smiled inwardly. Finish what they'd been doing- _finish_ this time.

Mr. D stepped from the shadows, where I hadn't seen him before- or where he hadn't been before. It was difficult to tell with these gods. Emilie knew he was there, though. Her body tensed slightly. I didn't think that 'thing' with Mr. D had been settled yet. She could sense things in the shadows- even if she wasn't so great at shadow traveling. She'd run into more than a few trees and fences in her time- a few times with me. She'd only successfully done it once that I knew of- and she'd slept for days afterwards.

She asked suddenly, "Isn't he a mortal? Who let him into camp?"

Mr. D rolled his eyes at her, as if the answer were completely obvious, "I did."

"What?" she whipped around to look at him, but he was looking off into the distance where Paris and Pollux retreated, with his arms crossed. He'd placed his can of Diet Coke on the porch railing earlier, where it was collecting condensation.

"Neither of you had been annoying lately, since Eleanor's-"

"Elena's," she corrected automatically. He just waved her off.

"Whatever- death. I was starting to miss it."

She paused, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "…did you do that to make him happy?"

He stiffened, "I did no such thing," but her eyes brightened, and she seemed to hum with energy, grinning as widely as she had when Paris had dragged Pollux away.

"You did, you did! You _do_- AGAHH!" she screamed, startled, when a massive hellhound bounded over, practically pouncing on her. Mrs. O'Leary was barking, and licked Emilie up one side, covering her in saliva, making her hair stick up in tufts at odd angles. She glared at the hellhound, and tried to skirt away from her, pushing her back, as Mrs. O'Leary tried to sniff her. Emilie _really_ didn't like dogs, even though hellhounds absolutely adored _her_ and thought she was the best thing since pink rubber bison.

Following her, out of breath, was first year camper- from the Athena cabin, I believe. She cried out in relief, "Mrs. O'Leary!"

Emilie glared pointedly at her from where she'd taken refuge behind Mr. D, who was watching the entire thing with resigned amusement. She glared at him too, for good measure.

See, Emilie doesn't like dogs. She _really _doesn't like dogs- the bigger they are, the more she doesn't like them. Ironically, the hellhounds love her- she smells like home or something. Nico thought it was really funny- he'd sat there petting 'the big scary hellhound,' as he'd put it, while she'd refused to talk to him for the next week.

I'd thought, since they were _hell_hounds, shouldn't she like them? I'd asked her about it, once, but she'd just given me a look, and said, "I guess that means you should like water snakes because their name starts with 'water,' right?" That shut me up fast, shuddering. I _really_ didn't like snakes.

-xxx-

Some of the flashes I'd seen were of Apollo. They hadn't made much sense, as it was usually only for a second or two, but he hadn't seemed very happy in any of them. He always looked like he was getting bad news. But, for the first time, I saw him clearly. He was standing in front of Emilie, in a clearing in the forest. She was sitting on a hollowed-out log, drawing pictures in the dirt with a stick.

"Listen. I love Elena," Apollo said, facing her. His arms were crossed.

"Loved," Emilie told him quietly, as if she was talking about her distaste for the weather. She was still staring at the ground, and I got the feeling this was the first time they'd seen each other since Olympus.

"What?"

"You're talking like she's alive. She's dead. It's not healthy to keep talking in present tense."

"She... is," he agreed after a moment. He had a pained look on his face. "But, as a daughter of Hades, you should know that not everyone who dies stays dead."

"Well, yes, they do. Usually. Dead is dead, what part of that don't you understand?"

"Orpheus, Dionysus. Both examples of people who brought the women they loved back from the dead."

"Orpheus failed," she snapped, with a sour look on her face. I don't think she liked the Mr. D reference.

"He almost succeeded."

"But they were all mar-" he cut her off.

"Yes, I know."

"I don't think... I... you _wouldn't_."

"I would."

She stared at him for a long moment with wide eyes, "Oh my _gods_."

"Yes," he said impatiently, "So do you agree to help?"

I wanted to scream at them. No! Whatever they were planning on doing to bring me back probably wasn't going to come for free. (What was that one old saying? Beware Greeks bearing gifts? I snorted. No, but ironically, that referred to Troy, a place where I spent most of my last days.)

She looked pensive for a moment, but then said slowly, "Yes, but it's going to cost you."

He breathed a sigh of relief, although it was barely noticeable, "Anything."

"Now?" she asked. Apollo shook his head.

"Tonight. I have… something to do first. Can you get us into the Underworld?" She nodded.

"Alright."

-xxx-

Sometime after that vision- although not to long after- I had another of Apollo meeting with my father. It wasn't very clear, it seemed to come in bursts, and occasionally, the image would shimmer like it was underwater. I couldn't hear what they were discussing, but my father seemed somewhat unhappy at first- that may have had to do with the whole 'dating his daughter' thing- but as the conversation went on, his expression grew more weary than anything else, his anger seeming to fade. Finally, he nodded reluctantly, which seemed to brighten Apollo's mood.

-xxx-

So far, all I'd been seeing were visions of the present, glimpses of what was happening in the outside world at the moment, but this felt different. I was seeing something of the past. It was so hard for the dead- for me- to focus on anything, I could hardly remember anything of what I saw afterwards. All I knew was that I saw vibrant red hair, that I couldn't possibly let Apollo make the deal, and that what I had seen was important- and it left me with a feeling of impending dread.

-xxx-

I'd been sitting in my little bubble, watching Hades sigh into an Iris message for a good bit of time, when the doors of the palace swung open, to reveal Apollo and Emilie side by side. The skeletal guards bowed slightly towards her, seeming to grin with their fleshless faces. She looked at them with wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows, but I could tell she was slightly pleased. She looked pale as usual, her long dark hair glinting in the dim light. But next to her… Apollo was standing, his back straight, looking ahead at Hades. Apollo looked… Pale. The color seemed to be draining out of him, all the vibrant colors seemed to be fading. Fading. Where had I heard that before?

Then it hit me. The prophecy had said, '_Apollo will fade_,' perhaps it hadn't meant die, but instead that he would travel to the underworld, where, '_death's wife_,' Persephone, lived several months out of the year. I felt instantly better. Apollo glanced over at me, and we locked eyes. I tried to speak- tell him that he shouldn't do it, but I knew he couldn't hear me. For the first time in however long I'd been in the Underworld, I took notice of my appearance. I gasped. I was wearing a white, Greek chiton, and my black hair was so long as to touch the middle of my back.

Hades sighed at the message once more, then said, "Business awaits, my dove, I shall see you shortly," then waved his hand through the mist. "Wives," he said, shaking his head. "They wont live with you, and don't want to live without you."

Emilie and Apollo exchanged glances. Emilie took a hesitant step forward, and then knelt at her father's feet, "Father," she said, "We have come with a request."

"Daughter," he said, and Emilie looked up, like she was a little dazed he was speaking with her. I knew the feeling, "I know why you're here."

She looked startled, startled enough to interject, "You do?" Hades looked slightly amused with her outburst. She quickly tried to cover it up, saying, "I mean- you do, father?"

"Why do you think I kept her so close to me for these nearly three weeks? It hasn't been for _my_ sake," he glanced lazily in Apollo's direction.

Apollo stepped forward, "I came to ask for her soul to be returned to the living," he met eyes with Hades, two kinds of fires burning intensely. After a moment, Hades relented, apparently satisfied with what he saw.

"There will be a price," he said.

"That was to be expected," Apollo nodded. I was yelling, and hitting on the bubble, slamming my fists into it, but no one was paying me any attention. They were focused on the deal.

"For one day," Hades held up one pale, slender finger, "you shall be mortal," he pointed to Apollo. Apollo paled, but he didn't say anything, "and I shall have complete control over your Olympian powers, for whatever use I should want them for. Including the sun chariot."

Apollo fished the keys out of his pocket, and tossed them to Hades, who caught them gracefully, "Deal."

"You must swear on the Styx."

Apollo looked me in the eye when he spoke, disregarding the look of despair on my face, "I swear on the Styx that Hades, God of the Underworld, will have complete control over my Olympian powers and immortality for one day in exchange for the life of Elena Westlie."

Hades droned, "I swear on the Styx that the Elena Westlie will have her life returned to her in exchange for the Olympian powers of Apollo, the God of Light, for one day."

Hades waved his hand, and my bubble popped, dropping me on the ground. He vanished, leaving us alone in the throne room. Upon feeling life return to me, I met Emilie halfway, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Don't you dare die on me ever again," she told me, fiercely. I laughed, but she mumbled about how it wasn't a joke.

"I'll try not to," I smiled at her. She seemed tired.

"But what's... is there something wrong?" she asked me, her eyes searching mine.

I paused, thinking about how to continue, "It's- I had a dream, that's all. It's probably nothing," I shook my head. She reluctantly released me. She mumbled about giving us some privacy, and wandered off.

I walked over to Apollo, who had been watching us with a guarded expression. We stared at each other for a moment. Looking back, I wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly, I was in his arms, he was holding me tightly, his face pressed into the crook of my shoulder. He loosened his grip on me, then he kissed me. I put my hands on either side of his face, his arms still around my waist, and he whispered, "I love you, I love you, I'm sorry, please don't ever leave me again."

"I won't," I promise him, "I wont. I love you too, I'm sorry."

We stay like that for a few minutes till Emilie peeked her head in, and said, "Guys? I think now would be a good time to go."

-xxx-

**So Elena is alive again! Although Apollo is temporarily mortal. It's only for a day, however, so it should all be fine, right?**

**I just want to thank you guys for sticking with our stories, even when they get really lame or weird. **

**Okay I know the updates are a little wonky (I'm terribly sorry about that, really) but it's just that school and, well, life just keep getting in the way. Hopefully there will be another update before too long. **

**ALSO, if you guy want a little more detail on why Artemis killed Elena, read the story ****A Man of the Stars****, which is on this account!**


	15. My boyfriend visits the oracle

**This took me **_**forever**_**. I just couldn't write some parts of it, for some reason! Sometimes the words just flow, and I have trouble typing fast enough, so I write down broken fragments and parts two, three paragraphs ahead because I'm afraid I'm going to forget it. Other times I sit and type two words, then check my email, then check FF and then press replay on the song on youtube then repeat the whole process.**

-xxx-

"Whoa!" I cried as Mrs. O'Leary bounded from the shadows, practically landing on the Big House's porch, with Emilie, Apollo, and I riding on her back. She woofed, and stopped, plopping down in the shade. We slid off of her as she started snoring. Emilie patted her head twice, looking uncomfortable, before getting as far away from her as she possibly could. I laughed. She glared at me.

"Now what?" she asked. I sighed.

"Now we go tell Chiron I'm not dead."

-xxx-

"You should be dead," Chiron said, when I stepped into the Big House, where he was sitting in his wheelchair playing pinochle with Mr. D. Mr. D didn't look too thrilled to see me, but I only rolled my eyes at him. He could go ruin someone else's day.

"Yeah, I got that, thanks," I said sarcastically. He shook his head.

"No, my dear, what I mean is," he shook his head again, "It's nice to see you back, anyhow."

"It's nice to _be_ back," I said, stretching. My hair, now long, brushed my shoulders. I frowned. I'd had longer hair when I was young, but I'd cut it off a few years ago and I haven't looked back since. I like it short- it's normally only a few inches long, kinda parted to the side. Emilie, on the other hand, prefers her hair longer, and I _do_ have to admit hers looks much better than mine long, hers being curled and flowing, a pretty mahogany color.

"What are you going to do about your… situation?"

"About me being 'dead'?" he nodded, and I looked back at Apollo, who was standing next to Emilie a few feet behind me. He smiled reassuringly, and Emilie just shrugged, her arms crossed against her chest. "I think I'm going to tell everyone at lunch. For now I'll go do what I normally do. I'll tell Percy, of course, and whenever sees me in between now and lunch, but like, officially at lunch."

He nodded, "Whatever you think is best," he paused, then asked, "Will you inform your mother?"

I stiffened. Apollo reached out and took my hand. "No," I finally said.

-xxx-

The first stop we make- after seeing Chiron- is to my cabin. I insisted on changing clothes, because while the chiton was pretty, it wasn't practical. Especially for camp, where we do things like climb the lava wall and ride Pegasai.

On the way to my cabin, Apollo told us he was thinking about teaching an archery class that afternoon. Because immortal or not, Apollo was one of, if not the, best archer in the world. Although Artemis might have something to say about _that. _It would give him time with his kids, and who _wouldn't_ want archery lessons from the sun god?

Apollo stood outside while I changed, because while I didn't actually care if he saw me changing, there were rules (that didn't technically apply to him, I guess, but still) and Emilie glared at him as soon as we got to my cabin. Emilie came in with me, though. She told me Percy hadn't done anything with my stuff. He'd looked overwhelmed when someone asked if he wanted someone else to get rid of my stuff for me. He hadn't known what to do with any of it, but he didn't want to throw anything away, either. So it was almost exactly like I'd left it. Only everything was a little cleaner.

I grabbed a pair of shorts and an orange shirt and quickly changed into them while Emilie sat on Percy's bed. I folded the chiton and put it in my trunk. I didn't see when I'd have another excuse to wear it, but you never know, it might come in handy one of these days.

"I'm going to go… color-coordinate my clothes," Emilie said, standing up. I looked up at her from where I was rummaging through my trunk.

"You just don't want to hang out with Apollo," I laughed.

"Well obviously," she said, and marched out. By the time I got outside, she had already disappeared.

-xxx-

The _second_ thing we did was go to the Aphrodite cabin and demand someone cut my hair. Half the cabin pulled out a pair of scissors, but Drew marched over and put her hands on my shoulders, and pushed me down into a chair and started cutting. She was unsurprisingly good at it. All Aphrodite kids were really good at all that personal appearance stuff, and they were usually happy to help the 'less fortunate' campers with their's.

When we walked into the cabin holding hands, a few people who had been there when I got my bikini for the beach party started whispering.

"_Isn't she dead?" _

"_Don't be rude." _

"_That's him! The guy she liked."_

"_Is that Apollo?" _

"_Oh my gods I think it is."_

"_He's hot." _

"_Shut up!" _

"_Well he is." _

Apollo lounged against the wall as Drew cut my hair. A couple of the girls were giggling and looking at him, while whispering among themselves. He flashed them a smile, which only made them giggle louder. I felt a flash of jealously, but Drew whispered, "That's him, huh?"

"It is," I told her, with a content sigh.

"Don't worry," she said as she worked, "He only has eyes for you," I looked up, and saw Apollo was looking at me with a smile on his face. I caught his eyes and smiled back.

One of the giggling girls pushed herself off the wall and strode over to him. She said something to him, but he frowned and said, "Sorry, I'm taken."

She turned around a sauntered off in a huff. Apollo looked at me and shrugged. I couldn't hold back a laugh- even Drew smiled a little bit.

"There!" she said, finishing up. She handed me a mirror; I took it, and inspected my hair. It looked almost exactly like it had before.

I stood up and hugged her. She looked a little startled at first, but then she returned the hug, "Thanks, really."

She nodded, "I know the value of a good haircut."

Apollo took my hand, and we left the pink cabin. It had been pretty, of course, but in a _very_ girly way. A little too girly for _me_.

-xxx-

We got halfway across the green space between the cabins when we spotted Percy.

"Elena," Percy said, dropping what was probably a bust of Poseidon onto the ground. It cracked in half, but considering it looked more like hyperborean giants than our father, I didn't think he was going to miss it.

"Hi, Percy," I said, smiling. I released Apollo's hand, and Percy hugged me. He released me, and then held me at and arm's length, looking me over. He let me go, and I took a step back, taking Apollo's hand again.

"But… how? I burned your body!" he frowned, "I know I did."

"I'm sorry," I told him. I wouldn't wish that in anybody, but Percy had to go through it because of me. I offered up, "Hades made a deal."

"What could you have offered him that would have traded for _that_?" he asked.

Apollo spoke up, "I traded my immortality and symbol of power for a day to bring her back."

Percy opened his mouth to ask why, but his gaze trailed down to our clasped hands, and then said, "… Oh."

"Yeah," I agreed.

After a moment, Apollo asked, "So, Percy, coming to my archery class this afternoon? My offer from a few years ago still stands!"

Percy looked at me, his eyes pleading, but I mouthed, _You're on your own_.

"Er…" he trailed off.

Apollo took that as a yes, "Great! We'll see you there!"

-xxx-

"Where to?" Apollo asked, swinging our clasped hands between us, as we stopped to inspect an Apollo statue in the middle of the rectangle of cabins. It was solid gold, and looked just like him- only, the statue was wearing a chiton and strumming a lyre, rather than jeans and a tee shirt.

"Well, I've already seen Percy, Emilie obviously knows I'm alive, so I figure I should probably go tell my other best friend, Pollux."

Apollo nodded, and I figured we should probably check the Dionysus cabin first. I remembered that he and Paris had been planning on getting a place in the city, but most of the city still wasn't finished, and with all that noise and dust, most people just chose to live in their cabins or wherever they had been living before until it's completion. In a few months, the city would be complete, and everyone would be ready to move in. Cyclopes and undead builders (summoned by Nico) were working on the city, along with a bunch of demigods. While the newer cabins- the ones built after the battle of Manhattan- had only taken a few weeks to build, the city was considerably larger, and didn't have the magic of the gods helping.

We knocked on the door, and I heard Pollux call from inside, "Come in!" He was reading a book on top of his bed. The sheets were a dark purple, and the walls- which were an almost tan stone, made of large bricks and piled on top of each other- had grape vines crawling up them. He glanced up, and he gaped at me. I laughed.

"Elena!"

"Pollux!" I said, as he got up, tossed his book- The Grapes of Wrath- on the bed behind him, and hugged me. "Where's Paris?" I asked, glancing around the cabin, when he stepped back. Two other beds- Pollux's younger siblings'- were unmade, the sheets haphazardly bunched up, with a few pieces of clothing strung across their trunks.

"Talking to Annabeth and Leo about commissioning us a house in the city when it's built," he told me. Annabeth, the head of the Athena cabin, was the head architect of the project, obviously- _she designed Olympus for gods sake_- although a lot of her siblings were helping. Leo, the head of the Hephaestus cabin, was the head of construction. While he and his siblings, like Danny and Jake, were notable for staying up all night (with Chiron's permission) working on the city, they couldn't do everything, so they get help from the Cyclops, which they think are actually the best monsters ever. "How'd you know he was here?"

I smiled, "I know everything."

"Speaking of what we know- and what I _don't_- how are you here?" he asked.

"There was a deal with Hades," I told him.

He simply said, "Ahh," and nodded. I felt relieved I didn't have to explain it to him. I guess he'd had enough of coming back from the underworld with his own husband. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that I was holding hands with Apollo, but he didn't say anything.

-xxx-

Apollo looked at the sun, and frowned. I realized something, "Shouldn't the sun not be in the sky because you're not driving it?"

"It has an autopilot," he told me, "I just don't use it very often. It's very standard, so it doesn't react to situations well."

"That's how you were able to come around when the sun was out!"

He nodded, "I can only imagine what Hades wanted to use it for, since he's not even _using_ it," he rolled his eyes. Something was nagging at the back of my mind, but I couldn't remember what it was. I shook my head, dismissing it.

"I have no idea what he might be up to, but I can guess what _we're_ going to do next," I told him.

"Lunch?"

"Lunch."

-xxx-

By lunch, almost everyone knew I wasn't dead anymore. I'd seen Percy, who'd told Annabeth, who'd probably mentioned it to her siblings. The entire Aphrodite cabin knew- and they were notorious gossips- and so did Pollux, who was sitting at his table with his younger sister- a girl with long brown hair down her back,-their brother- who had dark curly hair- and Paris. Paris didn't really belong anywhere, so no one put up a fight when he started sitting with them. He wasn't as much of a topic of gossip as he was in the beginning, but a good portion of the lunchtime chatter was still about them.

But when I walked in, most heads turned to me. Emilie just rolled her eyes without even looking up from her pizza. She'd scraped all the cheese and sauce off, as usual, and took a big bit out of it. I grabbed a plate from one of the nymphs as she skirted past, and got in line for the braziers behind Lila, a girl from the Demeter cabin, who had long, light brown ringlet curls that bounced when she walked. She was nudging along her half-sister- Pia, I believe. It was her first year at camp, and she was only eight.

Apollo followed behind me, and I could feel everyone looking at us. I didn't pay them any mind, and they didn't say anything about him, and slowly everyone resumed eating. A few friends waved at me from their tables, and one Ares kid started chocking on his barbeque, although that may or may not have been because of me.

"Do you want me to sit with you, or should I sit at the _Apollo_ table?" he asked with a flourish, and I bit back a smile. Apollo had his own _table_.

"You should probably go sit at your table. Mr. D might actually explode if you don't."

He nodded and threw some of his barbeque into the fire. He smirked and winked at me, like we were sharing a secret. I rolled my eyes at him. _He's so full of himself_, I thought, but I had to smile.

"I love you," I told him. He leaned in and kissed me quickly, saying it back, before we parted ways to sit at our respective tables. Percy was already sitting down, and he asked, "How long have you two, uh," he started.

"Been together?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Officially? Since the beach party. Although I guess it started a little while before that."

The conversation quietly trickled off, but I didn't mind. After we were finished eating, Chiron stood, and made his announcements. There was a chariot race this Thursday, and capture the flag later in the week. "-and our visiting Olympian," Apollo stood and there were a few people who yelled out, mostly from his own table, though, "has agreed to teach a special archery class this afternoon. Don't miss out on the opportunity! I may have been teaching for thousands of years, but Lord Apollo _is_ the God of Archery."

The announcement roused a chorus of murmurs from the campers. Taking that as a success, Chiron continued, "Finally- as many of you may have noticed- one of our own has returned to us. Elena?" I waved. "Although I will not say how, as they are Elena's private affairs, you may choose to approach her yourselves and ask her of it."

-xxx-

After lunch, Apollo wanted to visit the oracle in her 'cave in the hills.' She didn't show up to lunch, but she does that sometimes, so no one was concerned or anything. I'd seen her place a few times before, during capture the flag, or when I'd gotten a tour of Bunker 9. I had only ever seen the outside, though, so I didn't know what to expect when I got there. And whatever I'd been expecting, it hadn't been what I'd found.

The outside of the cave looked somewhat ridiculous if you thought about it, but standing there, it was mostly mysterious, and a little bur scary. The oracle's abode was literally a cave in the hills- Apollo hadn't been kidding. Apparently he'd suggested it, and Rachel had loved the idea, despite everyone else's reservations. The cave's entrance was covered by dark fuchsia curtains that served as a door, and was flanked by two torches that never extinguished, even in rain (which practically never happened here anyway) or wind. It was similar to Greek fire, except it burned a normal color. When we pushed the curtains aside, and ducked into the cave, I gasped. Apollo grinned as I took in the room. The walls were stone, and the room was lit by torches along the walls, where three quotes, "Know Thyself," "Nothing in Excess," and "Make a Pledge and Mischief is Nigh," were inscribed.

The walls themselves were covered in pictures- drawings and paintings, and hastily sketched scenes. They were of faces, some smiling, some contorted in pain. Others were of snapshots of what was a pretty normal demigod life- gruesome battle scenes, or weddings, or claimings. I was looking them all over, when one caught my eye. I sucked in a breath and approached it.

I reached out, and touched the paper, my fingers tracing the jaw of a redhead guy, "Who is this?" I asked, my voice shaky. I recognized him. I didn't know from where, but I did. His hair was wavy, and his eyes were sharp. Next to his picture was a girl who looked almost identical to him- they were twins. She had the same look in her eye, but instead of the harshness his held, hers were full of determination and love.

"Hm? Oh, them. I'm not sure," Rachel said from across the room. I turned, and she was frowning. She shrugged, "I don't know who a lot of them are."

The rest of the room was pretty similar. Towards the back was an easel, and a bunch of art supplies. The stereo next to it was blasting something I'd never heard of. In the back of the room was a large cushion, the same color as the curtains. It was roughly the size of a love seat, and I figured it was probably used as her couch. On either side were braziers that flickered in the dim lighting. On the left there was a doorway that opened into a hall, presumably leading into Rachel's room.

She turned to Apollo, and bowed slightly, although it was more of a nod, "My Lord Apollo."

"Rachel," he nodded. They gave me a tour of the place, and Rachel winked at me when Apollo wasn't looking. I wasn't sure if she knew something I didn't, or if she just knew about us. There was a good chance it was both.

She seemed to be glancing at the picture I'd pointed out earlier, and then back at Apollo. If he noticed, he didn't let on. She was hurrying us out the door, saying something about how she was busy. She started to push Apollo towards the door, but he just crossed his arms and leaned on her.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, grinning, "With what?"

"Stuff! Painting and sketching things!"

"What kind of things?" she leaned in and pushed on him harder, but he didn't move an inch.

"Oracle things! _You_ assigned me to the position!"

-xxx-

Later, after Rachel had finally kicked us out (Apollo had whined and hung on just to mess with her), we made our way to the archery range. We had a few minutes to kill, so we took our time. We stopped by the city to look over their progress, and Apollo told me he was thinking of being the city's patron god. I laughed out loud at that, and when he asked what was so funny, I told him that I was having trouble picturing a city called 'Apollodonia.' He started to protest that he would name the city something much better than that- although still after himself- but then I kissed him so he stopped talking about it.

When we arrived at the range, a bunch of kids were already there, shuffling around with bows in hand. I sat on the sidelines as Apollo taught the class- I really wasn't the best at archery, but at least I'd mostly managed to keep the arrows in the general direction I wanted them to go. Percy didn't show- not that I'd expected him to- but a lot of other kids did, including all of the Apollo cabin, and half of the Ares cabin. I guess even they couldn't pass up a chance to see how well their rival cabin could shoot.

"Whoa!" Apollo laughed, glancing back at me with a grin on his face, when a blushing first-year camper almost whacked him in the face with a bow notched with a flaming arrow. He pushed it out of the way just in time. He patted the kid on the back and sent her back to her siblings, who scolded her for not being careful, while he demonstrated how to _safely _use a flaming arrow.

About an hour later, Apollo walked to my side and stood over me, his shadow blocking the dying sun. I hadn't been paying much attention the last half hour or so, during which a lot of the kids had slowly trickled away.

"Sure you don't want to try it?"

"I'll pass," I said, shaking my head, "I'm awful."

He grinned at me, "C'mon Elena, you can't be too bad," he said, winking.

I groaned, "Oh all right."

"That's the spirit!" he offered me his hand, which I took, and he pulled me up.

I missed the target, mostly, almost hitting a few kids who walked a little too close (oops, sorry guys) but Apollo tried to stay positive.

"I told you I was awful!"

"Nonsense! My archery classes? The best there is!"

-xxx-

After that, Apollo joined his cabin in a game of basketball, against Athena's. At first they whined about how it wasn't fair that Apollo's team had a _god _on their side, but he winked at them and said it would be fair enough, with clever kids like them. Getting a complement from a _god _made a few of them dazed, but they quickly recovered and got a determined look on their faces. They grouped up, and with Annabeth holding the basketball under one arm, discussed strategies while all of Apollo stretched. When the game started, it was a flurry of blonde heads. They blocked each other, and scored, evenly matched. The Apollo kids- and Apollo himself, even- literally started to glow when they sweated, like they were taking baths in liquid sunshine. It was a child of Apollo thing, all of them did it- it was like how the Athena kids were smarter than everyone else, or the Ares kids stronger. It wasn't too noticeable during the day, but in the fading daylight, the soft glow separated them from their cousins.

In the end, Apollo ended up winning. It was probably a combination of having a god on their team, and out numbering the other cabin. The Athena cabin left scowling, but were already devising ways to get revenge.

-xxx-

That night, I had a dream. I was in the underworld again, although this time I was simply watching. Hades was sitting on his throne, his eyes icy. His expression darkened when the doors swung open and a teenager waltzed in. He looked a little older than me- maybe seventeen or eighteen- an had fiery red hair. He was wearing dark jeans, boots, and a white shirt, pulling on a leather jacket as he approached. For some reason, he seemed really familiar, although I couldn't remember where I'd seen him...

He leered at Hades, "I assume you have it?"

Hades regarded him with cold resignation. After a moment, he sighed, and waved his hand. In a flash of light, Apollo's keys dropped into the redhead's hand. His hand clenched around them, and if possible, his grin got even wider. He seemed to radiate malice.

He turned to leave, but Hades stood, his voice booming, "Louis."

Louis turned back, and sighed sarcastically, "Oh right, I'd forgotten. My part of the deal."

"Where is she?" he said, and glanced slightly to the other throne. I realized he must have been talking about Persephone. Why he wanted to know where she was, I don't know. Wasn't she with her mother this time of year? Maybe he wanted to send her flowers.

Louis leered, and the dream shifted.

-xxx-

Louis was there, but it must have been sometime later, because he was playing with Apollo's keys, and it was dark outside- he was no longer in the underworld. He looked up, and for a moment, he looked like a normal kid, but then his expression hardened. He spoke up, "Welcome. I would say gentlemen, but, well-" he smirked. There were a few murmurs but whoever he was speaking to didn't say anything.

"The power of the gods... in my control. I have evidence, now, instead of only my word," he turned behind him, and clicked one of the buttons on the car keys. Apollo's car came from the sky, landing smoothly behind him. He hopped on the hood, and didn't wince, although it must been several hundred degrees. One tried to approach, but Louis growled, "_Back off_. It's a rental. If I damage the merchandise so early, they won't want to work with me again."

Whoever it was backed off, and Louis crossed his legs and leaned back on the windshield, smug. "So what do you say?" he stood up on the hood, towering over everyone else. He reached for his weapon- which I hadn't noticed before- a scythe strapped to his belt. He ran his finger over the blade and sliced through the air as he said, "Now the question is, who will join the side of the winners?" He looked around, his eyes flashing, "Do you _see _this? _I can't lose_."

-xxx-

**Guyyyyys, I'm sorry this took so long. I've figured Part 1 will probably end at nineteen or twenty chapters, but I'm not sure yet. **

**In other news, I got a car! It's a dark green SUV, and it's wonderful. **


	16. I vist my mother (for the last time)

**Wow guys, it totally just **_**floors**_** me to think that people in other countries- Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Dominican Revar- and places I've never even heard of- along with so many people in my own country- are reading this fic. It started out as- and still basically is- a story written by two thirteen year old girls who wanted more than anything to exist in the world of Percy Jackson. While things have changed since then (our ages and writing skill, to name a few) this story has remained a constant. **

**Also! If any of you are interested, I've posted another of my stories on this account, set a year after this one, about a son of Ares and a son of Athena. It's called ****All's fair in love and War****. It would really make me happy if you'd read it. **

-xxx-

The next morning, I told Emilie about my dreams. She nodded and told me she'd look into this Louis guy when she had the chance. And if she could, she'd ask her father about the deal, although we didn't know how truthful or forthcoming he'd be about it. Meanwhile, I was trying to remember where I'd seen him, but I wasn't having any luck with it.

She was sitting on one of the beds, swinging her legs over the side. Her hair was pulled back by her hairclip/sword, and she was wearing a purple Camp Jupiter shirt and dark shorts. I didn't know where she'd gotten it from, but then again, I didn't really want to ask.

"Now that we've got all the depressing stuff over with… breakfast?"

"Yes, I'm _starved_," I said, and followed her towards the door. When I reached the door, and was about to step outside, the fountain in the back of the room started flashing, to tell me I had an incoming call. Looking at it over my shoulder, I turned back to Emilie, who was waiting outside impatiently.

She had her hands on her hips, and asked expectantly, "Coming?"

"I'll be there in five- go without me. I've got to answer this."

She nodded and headed towards the pavilion. I walked over to the fountain and knelt down, tossing a coin in as a woman's voice said, _Please deposit one drachma_. I tossed one in, and it flashed once more, then I was looking at Apollo.

"Elena!" he said.

"Hey, Apollo. What's up?" his grin faltered for a moment, but it was long enough for me to ask, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, as if he was trying to rid himself of that look, "It's nothing."

I looked at him skeptically, but nodded, "Alright."

"Can you meet me near the canoe lake a little before sunset?" he asked suddenly.

I was a little thrown off, but I recovered enough to say, "Yeah, of course, I'll be there."

He flashed me his brilliant grin, and I felt like I was melting. We chatted for a few minutes, but then I told him I had to leave for breakfast. He nodded, and cut the connection with an "I love you."

-xxx-

"What if he's taking you out on a _date_? You can't wear _that_." I gave her a look.

"And what if he's just here to say, _'Sorry for stopping by, I left my sunglasses here again'?_" I said, in an awful imitation of Apollo's voice. Emilie just rolled her eyes.

"Then you give him back his sunglasses while dressed _fabulously_."

"But-"

"Shut up and do what I tell you."

"Oh fine," I finally said with resignation, following her off to go steal clothes from some unsuspecting camper. Or, I thought with horror, subject me to torture at the hands of the Aphrodite cabin. _Again_.

-xxx-

I ended up dressed pretty nice, for, well, _camp_, and not at the expense of my sanity via the Aphrodite cabin. It turned out that Emilie had been practicing her shadow travel, thanks to her brother Nico.

"Surprise! I was going to save this for your birthday, but now seems like an appropriate time to give them to you. Or _back _to you," she said.

"My _stuff!" _I exclaimed, turning to hug her.

"Yo_u're squishing me_," she said, her voice a high squeak.

"Oops, sorry! I got excited. But Holy Hephaestus Emilie, thanks! You have _no_ idea how much I've missed my own stuff," I told her. She'd gotten a lot of my things from my mom's apartment- the awful suitcase I hated (I almost told her to remind me to _burn_ it when we were done. I was thinking of duct taping Leo to it, and then setting _him _on fire,) was full of my clothes, everything from underwear to dresses, a couple jackets and skirts- pretty much everything from my closet. I'd mostly been wearing camp shirts and hand-me-downs since coming to camp. The thing is- Emilie and I left in a hurry after school, and we hadn't exactly been expecting to not ever come back when we left that morning, so we only had whatever we'd been wearing that day.

I ended up wearing a light blue blouse and a black skirt that billowed around my legs as I walked, and some flats. When I arrived, Apollo was already parked, leaning on the passenger's side of the car, looking behind him over the lake. When he heard me approach, he turned, and his face lit up.

"Elena! You came!" he swooped down to kiss my cheek.

"Of course I did!" I told him.

He stepped away from the car, swinging his keys around his finger, "Ready to go?"

"Um," I said, "Zeus doesn't like it when I fly."

"Nonsense!" he said cheerfully.

"Um, did you at least ask him about it?"

"He said it was fine! In a way," he told me. "He's not going you blast you out of the sky for _this_."

"Oh _great_."

-xxx-

"Going to tell me where we're going?" I asked him, but he only hummed noncommittally. I was riding shotgun, with my elbow resting on the rolled-down window, as we were soaring over the long island sound.

"Nope! But it looks like we're almost there," he said, taking a sharp left turn. After a moment, he landed, parking on a deserted beach. He got out of the car, and before I had a chance to open my own door, he opened it for me. The sun seemed to be setting, which, okay, didn't make any fucking sense at all, considering we were just _riding_ in it but I wasn't going to question it. I was turned towards the sun, squinting, trying to make out what exact shape the sun was, when one of the Nereids swimming in the water waved, and pointed behind me.

I turned to see Apollo shuffling around, with his hands behind his back. He patted one of his pockets, then, as I started to ask why exactly we were here, because yeah it was beautiful, but why were we here? when-

Apollo got down on one knee and I stared at him blankly because _this cannot be happening_. He's notorious for falling in love with mortals- his cabin has the most kids- and for _not being married_. But there he was, on one knee, smiling up at me dazzlingly. He finally said, opening a little black velvet box. Inside was a thin platinum ring, that had tendrils wrapping around the oval diamonds- no, those was blue _sapphires- _making it exactly the type of ring I've always wanted, "Elena," he said, "Will you marry me?"

I gaped at him, "But- _why_? I'm Percy's kid sister!" I rambled, "Like, seriously! I've been called that by a _ton_ of people at camp! Fourteen demigods, six satyrs, and _one_ god, to date!"

He laughed, and I shut my mouth, as he said, shaking his head, "Oh Elena, I love you. Yeah, you're Percy's sister, but you're so much more than that. So, will you?"

I swallowed, and said, "Yes." And then, louder, "Yes, I'll marry you, Phoebus Apollo." He broke into a grin, and picked me up, spinning me around, before setting me back down, kissing me, all while watching Nereids sighed dreamily from the water. He took my hand, and slipped the ring onto my finger. We sat on the hood of his car, which was warm, but not unpleasantly so, and watched the fading sun over the water, while Apollo played with the ring on my finger.

"I normally deal in all gold, but I know you like Platinum better."

"Have you been _spying_ on me?" I said accusingly, but there was no heat in my voice, only playful teasing.

"Well... Yeah. I have contacts in camp. Namely my children," he said, laughing. I poked him in the stomach, and he wrapped his arms around me, kissing the side of my head. "But..." Apollo said hesitantly.

I looked up at him, "Yeah?"

"Elena... I want you to tell your mother."

I jerked away from him involuntarily, sliding out of his arms and off of the car, "No!" he slid off the hoot, and stepped towards me, his hand outstretched.

"Elena… I've already asked your father's permission. I want you to at least tell her. For me."

"Fine," I said stiffly. He smiled, but it was half hearted, "But only if you come."

He nodded, "Done."

-xxx-

The sun chariot/car seemed to have a night mode, since it was already dark and the car was traveling through the sky while giving off no light or heat. He already seemed to know where he was going, because he found my mom's apartment building just fine. I hadn't seen the building in over six months, and that was by _far_ too soon for my liking. He landed smoothly and parked on the street, and I reluctantly followed him inside as he pressed the button on his keychain, locking the car with two beeps. I unlocked the front doors so we wouldn't have to buzz up, and we went inside. We took the rickety elevator to my mother's floor, and walked along the hallway where the carpet was fraying, and the paint was chipping on the white walls. We got to my mother's door, number 239, despite being on the fourth floor. I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door, and after a few moments, the door swung open, revealing my mother.

She had silvery roots in her dark hair, and lines on her face, but it didn't really make her look old- just, well, like my mom.

"Mother," I said coldly.

"Elena!" she said angrily, her brow furrowing, "Where have you been?"

"You know where I've been," I said, crossing my arms. She took a step forward, and I felt Apollo step closer. She seemed to register him for the first time, and didn't move any closer. Instead, she ushered us inside.

The inside looked a bit better than the outside, but by my standards, just barely. The paint wasn't chipping, but the hallway was supposed to be some seafoam green color, but unless you looked at it in a certain light (or while sleep deprived or drunk) it looked like a really bad shade of white. At the end of the hall was the living room, where there was a single, dark purple couch with tacky palm tree print pillows, and a coffee table missing one leg. On it were a few half-torn magazines with coffee stains and water marks. Behind the couch were sliding glass doors, open to a tiny balcony with chipping concrete and a few half-dead hanging plants in pots. I once put a lawn gnome in one of them just to piss her off. I found it in the trash the next day, so I put it back in the flower pot. It went on like that for a good deal of time, with neither of us even speaking about it face-to-face. I wondered if it was still there, or if she'd finally thrown it out for good, with no one there to pick it out of the trash.

Across from the living room, if you could even call it that, adjoining to the hall, was the kitchen. It was essentially only a bar and a few stools facing the couch, and behind that, to the far left, was a somewhat broken fridge (only the freezer works, and it stays at about the temperature that the fridge part should be, so we use the freezer for cold stuff, and the fridge for extra storage,) the oven (with the handle broken off) next to that, a counter space, then the sink, the dishwasher (also doesn't work, it fills with water every time it runs, and the water doesn't like to leave. We would wash dishes by hand) and then the pantry along the far right wall. Emilie's aunt had once called it a one-butt kitchen, which, as she explained, meant it was only big enough for one person.

To the right was another small hallway. In the middle was the bathroom, with my mom's room on the left, mine overlooking the street on the right. I didn't like to go in my mom's room, so I wasn't even sure what it looked like anymore. If I closed my eyes, I could picture exactly what my room looked like before I left. The floor, like the rest of the house, and probably the whole building, too, was a dark blue carpet. It might have been pretty once, but years of tenants wearing over it wore it down. There was a small closet on the left, with my black wire-frame bed in the middle, with my turquoise sheets and white pillowcase made up neatly. Next to the bed was a nightstand with a lamp and a well-worn copy of The Great Gatsby. It had been a struggle to read with my dyslexia, but after the first few times struggling through it, it was less of me reading it, and more of me remembering the words. There was a white book shelf across from the table, with a bunch of books that I'd either never read or hadn't read since I was a kid.

I knew Apollo could be threatening. He _was _a god, after all. I didn't know if she knew who he was.

"Who's this?" she asked stiffly, looking him over.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I had the chance, Apollo stepped forward and cut me off, holding out his hand to my mother. She took it wearily, as he said, "I'm Apollo. Elena's fiancé. It was upon my insistence that we came, although I'm not sure it was such a good idea now."

When Apollo said his name, my mother's eyes widened and her nostrils flared, looking at her hand, Apollo, and then at me.

"… Apollo," she said slowly, her mouth dry. "… Like the god?"

He smiled brightly, and it might have seemed friendly to anyone else, but I could see the malice behind it. "That would be me," he sneered. She snatched her hand back, all but wiping it on her pants.

"Elena- how?" she said weakly. I shrugged.

"It just… happened."

Apollo smiled, a real smile this time, "Oh come now, sweetheart, nothing ever just _happens_. It was the fates," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist. I smiled lightly and leaned into his touch.

"Elena, dear," she said, "I think we need to talk. _Alone_," she said, looking pointedly at Apollo. I shook my head.

"I'd rather not."

She looked at Apollo nervously, then back at me, "Elena darling," I frowned. My mother never called me things like that before, "Have you talked to your father lately? Because I was wondering if he might want to talk with me sometime."

My eyes widened as I realized what she was trying to do, "Oh no, I am not getting into that," my eyes lowered, "I am not going to be used by you like that."

"Elena, child," she started, but I'd already turned away, heading for the door, Apollo following.

"And take down the missing posters," I spat.

-xxx-

After that, he took me to dinner. In Japan. He asked me what I felt like having after that spectacular disaster, and I told him sushi, and well, apparently he didn't want to settle for _American_ Japanese food.

"I have a daughter a few miles from here," he told me, with a soft smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile too. "She's turning four in a few weeks. I haven't seen her mother in years."

"Will she be coming to camp, when she's old enough?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Thanks to your brother, yeah. Her mom will move to America in a few years anyway- she's going to get transferred to the D.C. branch of her company."

"What? How do you know?" I asked.

"God of prophecy, remember?" he said, grinning, and tapped the side of his head. His smile faltered. "Listen Elena… I'm not perfect, even if I claim to be," he chuckled halfheartedly, "I _am_ a god after all. We're the living personification of imperfection. I'm going to fall in love with other mortals, eventually. And have more kids."

He was looking at me like he half expected me to get up and start shouting, but what I did was sigh, "I get it. No, really, I do," I said, looking at the skeptical look on his face, "you're a _god_. The first thing they tell you at Camp Half-Blood is that the one thing that gods do is go around falling in love with mortals, and you're not going to change just because you got married. Look how well that turned out for Aphrodite! I know you're going to keep falling in love with mortals, and have kids with them. I don't blame you. Hades, even _I _might do it some day. But I know that I'm going to be the person that you come home to at the end of the day, and that's all that really matters in the end, isn't it? And this isn't a free pass saying you're _allowed _to go around doing it, it's just me saying that I know you will anyway, and accepting that."

He was looking at me with an undeterminable look on his face, and he said, "You have no idea how much I love you right now."

I smiled cheerfully, "Oh I think I have a pretty good idea."

-xxx-

Upon arriving back that night, I sneaked into Emilie's cabin and told her about the proposal. She was still awake, and I didn't have to worry about the harpies trying to eat me for being out past curfew. They didn't like Emilie's cabin very much, nor did they like her or her brother, Nico. I also got the distinct impression that she had known about the proposal before the fact, even if she didn't say it outright.

"Oh, that's… nice. You're getting married. Aren't you a little young?"

"No."

" …Okay. But at least _try _to be careful, please. Apollo has a habit of killing his girlfriends, and you've already died once. I don't think I can bring you back _again_."

"I will _try_," I said, "But in my defense, it wasn't my fault the first time. Or Apollo's."

"Right."

"And Lady Artemis has already promised not to do it again."

"And what about his _other_ girlfriends? Cassandra, Daphne…"

"I will try very hard not to turn into a tree, but I can't make any promises," I said sarcastically.

I told Percy and Annabeth the next morning, and they were both thrilled for me, although they wanted to know what that meant in terms of me becoming immortal. I told them that Apollo and I had talked about it, and he had said that I was definitely going to become an immortal, and probably a god, if he and my dad had anything to say about it. I was definitely excited, and more than a little bit frightened.

-xxx-

After that, the rest of the summer passed relatively quickly. Apollo and I decided we were going to get married in the spring, just before Percy and Annabeth's wedding at the start of the summer. They wanted to get married at camp, which had been both of their homes for years, at the beginning of summer so all of their camp friends could come. Our wedding was going to be planned by the Aphrodite cabin, anyone from the Apollo cabin who wanted to help, Aphrodite, and even Lady Hera herself. I was allowed input, but just because I was allowed to say stuff didn't mean they were going to _listen_.

Up until the last day of camp, we still did normal camp things, like sword-fighting in the arena, Pegasai riding, chariot races, and Greek lessons, but the end of camp was looming over everyone's head. A couple kids started crying when they were told they would probably be separated from their friends, who were going back home. This summer's bead, given out on the last night of camp, was a sky blue with a classic beach ball. It was made by the Aphrodite cabin, who'd thrown the bash, so it was actually really delicate and pretty. The summer hadn't been particularly eventful, so it was the best they could come up with.

"This summer has been unforgettable in quite a few ways!" Chiron said, eyeing a few demigods in the crowed, who laughed nervously, looking at each other. "Don't forget who has been lost," a solemn silence stole over the crowed, "And those who have been found!" a few laughs and pats on the back. "Now, to bed! Vacate your cabins by noon tomorrow unless you've made arrangements to stay with us. The cleaning harpies will eat anyone left behind!"

-xxx-

The last day of the only summer I would ever _really_ spend at camp ended quite unspectacularly. I got up at the normal time, and changed into one of my orange shirts and a pair of shorts, and went to breakfast. Percy would normally be leaving about then, but he and Annabeth, with a lot of other demigods who were moving into the city in the winter, were staying for the next few months. Annabeth would take online classes, while Percy taught the younger campers Greek (a bad idea if you asked me, but no one did) and sword fighting. Clarisse was one of the others who was staying, along with her brothers Sherman, Mark, Red, and a few others. Piper and Leo would be staying, along with Jason, who really actually didn't belong here but no one had kicked him out yet, so who was I to argue?

People were filing out of their cabins- the Apollo kids racing each other to see who could get to their moms first, the Aphrodite kids lugging their Gucci suitcases up the hill, Mr. D's daughter, Meredith- Mer-, dragging her half-brother up to where their mothers were waiting. People were waving good bye and tearfully hugging everywhere around me. I had yet to see Emilie, but I knew she wasn't going anywhere, so I wasn't worried. Lou Ellen stopped by to say goodbye- she was going back to her dad's place for the school year- it was going to be her last one, she was a senior in high school. She hadn't decided yet if she was going to move into the city and go to college next year, like Annabeth, or if she was going to try a mortal college.

After breakfast, I spent the morning helping kids with their trunks and watching the busses and vans take them back to the real world. It felt… surreal. Summer had been like a really nice, really dangerous dream. It was back to the way it had been to when Emilie and I first arrived- only about forty demigods rather than the two hundred or so that arrived for the summer.

I decided the best way to spend the rest of the day was to race the Naiads in canoe races. They beat me almost as often as I beat them. Pollux, who didn't have anywhere to go, since he was moving into the city as well, offered to race me. I beat him every time.

-xxx-

"Ew, olives," Emilie said, picking the olives off her pizza, then scraping off the cheese. She was lactose intolerant, so if she ate any milk products, she got super sick. She was lounging on the bench at my table. Since it was the last day of camp, lunch wasn't very formal, and Mr. D hadn't even bothered to show up. A few other kids had just stopped by to grab a slice, running off to either do last-second packing (read: throwing underwear and swords into their backpacks and running off to catch the bus before the harpies ate them,) or do something like practice archery. A few kids, like April, from Aphrodite, and Kayla from Apollo, were actually sitting at their tables, eating lazily. It wasn't like we had much to do today.

"You wouldn't survive ancient Greece, they loved olives above all else," I told her, taking a big bite out of the pizza. She gave me a look.

"Yes, it's the olives, not the swords, not the shields, not the men, not the gods, not Achilles, not the bows, no- it's the olives that get me."

-xxx-

Around two, when the last demigods were trickling out of the borders (or else the harpies would eat them, because hey, technically they had already vacated their cabins), Apollo stopped by. We went for a walk, ending up on one of the halls that overlooked camp.

"I-" I said, hesitantly, not looking at him. I was looking over the cliff, down at the straggling demigods.

"... It's okay if you're reconsidering. Marrying me, that is. I mean, no it's not 'okay' but... I won't stop you," he finally said, looking at the ground.

"No! I love you, Apollo," I cried, and grasped his forearm, "I'm not reconsidering," I told him, making sure he looked me in the eye, so he knew I was serious. "I've just been thinking about how I'll miss this," I gestured to Camp Half-Blood, where I could see the last of my friends slicing at dummies; nymphs and naiads splashing around in the water; a demigod leading others in armor and orange tee shirts, to learn different attack formations; and a few Aphrodite kids looking at their reflections in the water. "I never thought I'd ever be immortal. It's always been about surviving long enough to see next week. And now that it's within grasp..." I trailed off, "I'm starting to see exactly what I could have been doing with the rest of my life. But I won't regret marrying you, not ever."

He visibly relaxed, "Are you sure?"

"_Apollo_," I said exasperated, "Are _you_ trying to talk me out of it?"

"What- no!"

"Then shut up!" I said, cutting him off with a kiss.

-xxx-

**That apartment is very unlike my house, considering I live in a **_**house**_**. Although everything wrong with the kitchen is actually wrong with my own (we're working on getting new stuff, okay?) but I've lived with it for a while so it's fine. And I do in fact have a lawn gnome, although my mom actually got it to please **_**me**_** since I saw the official PJO picture of Hephaestus and said he looked like a lawn gnome on steroids. **

**And, you know, the hardest thing about writing myself as a demigod, is that I can't write myself as a book lover. I love books more than you can imagine. Books, since childhood have been my everything.**


	17. Doctor Sexy, MD

**Okay, to start off, I apologize if you live in a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween, because this might be a little confusing to you. The thing is- it's my absolute favorite holiday **_**ever**_**, and I guess that's partly because my birthday is the day before Halloween, and I figured the kids at camp might do something for the holiday, because it would give them some semblance of normality in their hectic lives. Plus, who doesn't love to dress up and act stupid, all while getting free candy?**

-xxx-

Even though most demigods don't stay all year, almost all of them come back for the Halloween party.

See, there's this Halloween party held every year at camp on Halloween night. There's the actual _party _part, which is held in front of the cabins, between them and the Big House, and then there's the trick-or-treating in the various cabins. All of the cabins completely deck out in Halloween decorations- and some are more into it than others. I was sitting outside my cabin, watching the other campers hurriedly put last-minute touches on their own, while Percy was changing into his costume in our cabin.

Hecate literally had tricks or treats, so you never know which you're going to get. It's kind of a rite-of-passage/dare thing some kids do. Occasionally they end up walking around with green troll hair, or when they reached for the candy, nothing would be there- but sometimes they just get actual candy. I think those kids are the most disappointed.

Ares and Apollo try to outdo each other with scary and gruesome decorations and a haunted house every year, lining the area around their cabins with things like (probably) fake dismembered corpses, broken weapons, and other frightening things from the mortal and mythological worlds that I don't want to name.

Hermes gives out toiletries from the camp store, and their decorations are always kinda half-assed, but that's because they always steal decorations from other cabins and never get their own.

The Hades cabin usually calls up a bunch of ghosts, and has skeletal hands that reach up from the dirt to grab at you when you get close. And if you take more than one piece from the bowl of candy, a skeletal hand grabs your wrist. Sometimes it doesn't let go, and you see those campers with skeleton arms attached to their wrist like jewelry.

The sun was setting, and I was already dressed. Apollo and I were going as a themed couple- we were both going to be pirates. He hadn't arrived yet, but he said he'd be there around sundown to go trick-or-treating with us- Emilie, Pollux, Paris, and I. I was wearing a red bandana over my hair, and a white blouse, with puffy sleeves that went to about my elbow. On top of the blouse, I was wearing a dark vest. My skirt was black, and hiked up to one side, and my boots were knee-high. The sword at my hip was real- I'd made it a few days before, during weapon-making with the Hephaestus cabin.

The door swung open behind me, and I turned to see Percy, looking completely unlike himself. He was wearing one of the party store costumes of Neptune- a fishtail-like skirt, a fluffy white beard, and carrying a plastic trident.

"What do you think?" he asked, turning in a circle slowly, to show off.

"I think the store you bought that from isn't going to get any points from dad," I said, and he laughed.

"True," he looked across the field, where a blonde girl in a Greek chiton was moving towards us slowly. Her skirt was hiked up, and she was stepping carefully across the green space.

"Is that- is that _Annabeth_?" I asked, squinting. As she got closer, Percy nodded. He was gaping at her.

"Well?" she demanded, when she finally made it over to us. Percy made a noise that sounded a lot like _guah._

"I think that means you look great," I told her, elbowing Percy. He shut his mouth, and nodded.

"You look a _lot_ like your mom," he said. She was wearing circular, gold stud earrings, and a gold band in her hair, which was pulled over her right shoulder.

She blushed, and asked, "Really?" we nodded. She looked exactly like her mom, from the one time I'd seen her- _exactly_ like an ancient Greek goddess. "Well that _was_ the goal. We're going as our parents," she told me. I nodded. I saw a flash of light, just as the sun descended on the horizon, and I jumped up.

"That's Apollo! I'll see you guys later."

-xxx-

Apollo was in what had become our normal meeting place- by the canoe lake. He was just getting out of his car, which had been parked by two dryad trees, when I ran up to him. He picked me up, wrapping his arms around my waist as I wrapped mine around his neck, and spun me around. Laughing, he kissed me.

"Elena!" he said, setting me back down. He looked me over, "You look great, beautiful."

"Not so bad yourself, hot stuff," he was wearing a costume similar to mine- a baggy white pirate shirt, and dark pants, with knee-high leather boots. His vest was unbuttoned, and there were a few holes in the shirt, like it'd actually gotten some use. A dark leather strap went across his chest, and a black-and-white striped cloth was tied across his waist, where a sword was fashioned.

He took my hand, his thumb brushing over the ring he'd placed on my finger a few months before. He brought my hand up to his lips, and kissed it, his eyes not leaving my face. I smiled. "Now to the Trick-or-Treating?" he asked, bringing my hand back down.

"Mhmm," said, in agreement. As we walked back towards the cabins, he swung our hands between us.

"Ever been before?"

"Once or twice," he said noncommittally. "I went a few times with girlfriends- I'm sure you've seen the kinds of costumes that girls like to get- and that was just too much for a single god to resist," I _hmm'_d in agreement. He continued, "Took Artemis once. Now _that_ was a year to remember."

I raised an eyebrow, "Care to elaborate?"

He chuckled, "Oh no, _that_'s a story for another time."

"Oh fine, but you _are _going to tell me that story later- I'll hold you too it," I said. Glancing up, I realized we were in the outskirts of the rectangle of cabins. Emilie's- our first stop- was only a few feet away. "This way!" I said, dragging Apollo behind me.

As we approached the cabin, skeleton arms wretched themselves free from the earth and clawed at my ankles. Someone screamed. It may have been me. But I was laughing, too. Halloween had always been my favorite holiday. Ghosts- actual ghosts- had be summoned for the occasion. I tried to steer away from them, but they were just lurking around, giving off a soft glow. Spider webs were draped across the windows and doorframe, but they looked like they'd been there for centuries, not like they'd been put there last week (like I knew they had. I'd helped decorate.)

In front of the door was a bowl of candy- white chocolate shaped like bones- with a note attached in Nico's handwriting _Only ONE, thanks. _I reached in a took a piece, dropping it in my bag, which looked like an eighteenth century handbag (but was magically enchanted to hold whatever I want, no matter the size. I was borrowing it from the Hermes cabin. And by borrow I mean I took it when they weren't looking. For thieves, they really should watch their backs more.) Apollo swooped in a took a piece. A few feet away, there were three Hermes kids- all dressed like mailmen, in brown shorts, a white shirt, a brown hat, and a mailbag (for candy) slung over their shoulders. On one of each of their wrists' was a skeletal hand, attached to part of an arm, clutching their wrists.. They were waving their arms around wildly trying to get them off, or had one of the others attempt to pull it off. I guess they couldn't help that stealing was in their nature, taking more than one piece, but now they were going to wear the mark of a thief (for the rest of the night.)

I knocked on the door, and heard a muffled, "Yeah?"

And then a, "Come in!" in a female voice. I opened the door, and two teenagers tumbled out- Nico and Emilie. They jumped up, and brushed themselves off, and tried to look decent. They were both wearing black, skin-tight body suits, with an almost-glowing skeleton print on the front, overlapping where their real bones were. If they hadn't been standing in front of the glowing braziers, they would have melted into the shadows, and it would have seemed like two headless skeletons were walking around. Well, other than the _actual _skeletons roaming camp at the moment.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"Yep!" She said, linking her arm in mine. "See you later, Nico!"

"Bye!" he called, and jogged off the opposite direction.

"What's up with the matching suits?" Apollo asked.

"It's a _family thing_," she said, pulling us towards the Dionysus cabin, where Pollux was.

We knocked on the door, and said, "Trick-or-Treat!"

Meredith opened it, and yelled something behind her in her native French. She then cursed- I assumed it was cursing, it sounded a lot like it, in any language, and repeated it in English, with a heavy French accent- "Nathan! The candy!" her younger half-brother ran up, with a bowl full of grape-flavored candy. Smiling at us, she said, "Take as much you want." She wasn't dressed up, but I guess she was at that age where it wasn't _cool _to dress up anymore. Nathan, standing behind her, was dressed like a firefighter.

Emilie scrunched up her nose, but took a handful. Grape was her least favorite flavor. I didn't know how she was going to survive her thing with Mr. D. I took a few pieces, because unlike Emilie, grape was my favorite.

"Is Pollux here?" Emilie asked politely. Meredith nodded.

"Pollux, your friends are here to see you!" she turned behind her, and scolded her brother. "Nathan, don't eat all your candy now! We haven't even left yet. Are you ready?" she was really taking a shine to being a big sister.

"Yep!" he turned to us, excited, "Mer is going to take me and a couple other kids trick-or-treating!" She rolled her eyes, but looked at him fondly.

"Do you have everything?" he nodded. She took his hand, and waved us goodbye. The door was ajar, but before we had a chance to open or close it, Pollux appeared.

Emilie stopped when she saw him in the doorway, "You _didn't_."

He shrugged, "I did." He was standing with Paris just behind him. Paris was wearing armor- fancy, like a king or prince might wear- but Pollux- he was wearing a Greek chiton, but for women, as it was floor length, and had a low neckline, and it looked like he had boobs. It was probably padded. In his hair was a gold circlet, and on his arms were armbands. He was dressed as the original Helen of Troy, with Paris as himself.

"Ohmygods. I didn't think you'd actually _do_ it."

"Paris thought it was a good idea."

"He thought fighting Menelaus was a good idea!"

"Will no one cease their references to the long past?" Paris asked.

Pollux, Emilie, and I all turned to him and said, "_No_." He sighed.

"It was worth a try," he said to Apollo, who shrugged.

"Alright, I fucking want some candy."

-xxx-

We first went to the Aphrodite cabin, figuring we'd make our way around the cabins counterclockwise, with us starting at Mr. D's cabin. A few other kids were shuffling away as we walked up, chattering about the Halloween party that would start in about an hour, at eight, which would give everyone a chance to get a head start on the trick-or-treating before most of the cabins were deserted for the party, leaving the candy bowls unattended. The outside of the cabin looked pretty normal- with a few fake headstones, and spider webs hanging around- except for the mannequins, which were dotted around the cabin, wearing designer clothes. What was scary about that, I didn't know.

Knocking on the door, we call cried, "Trick-or-treat!" as Drew opened it. She smiled at us indulgently. Her boyfriend practically materialized at her side, a big, buff Ares kid. She was dressed as Cleopatra, with a long, white, Egyptian dress, gold jewelry, her black hair (or was it a wig?) cropped a little past her chin, with straight-across bangs, and dark eyeliner. Her boyfriend was Marc Antony, in Roman armor. They looked spectacular, and by the way she was smiling, she knew it. He held out the bowl of candy in front of himself. It was bright pink, but the look on his face said _don't mess with me_.

"Please take one!" she said. I reached in first, followed by Emilie, and Apollo. Inspecting the candy in my hands, I saw it was a candy necklace, one of those that you bit off. Except these looked a lot tastier, and they had gems, which were pretty big.

When Pollux reached in, Drew slapped his hand away, saying, "I said only _one_," at the same time he cried, "Hey!"

She smiled sweetly, "Sorry." We laughed while he glared daggers at her.

A piercing shriek came from a few cabins down, which wouldn't have been very odd considering it was Halloween, but it was followed by a terrified, _"Kill him! _Kill him!" We all looked towards where the sound was coming from, and saw Athena kids running away in fear, being chased by a kid in Spider-Man costume. Drew sighed, and pointed to the Spider-man guy, "Go get him, Sherman," she ordered. Her boyfriend nodded, and shoved the candy bowl in Emilie's hands, who looked like she didn't know what to do with it. Drew sighed again, and lifted the bowl from her, watching Sherman as he marched towards the Spider-Man kid, and grabbed him by the back of his neck. He tugged off the mask, and it was a Hermes kid with a sheepish look on his face. He said something, probably, _'Please don't eat me.'_

Drew looked around the cabin's yard, "Like the mannequins?" we all nodded, because what else were we going to do? "They're all wearing last season's stuff. Chiron didn't see what was scary about that- but let me tell you- there is _nothing_ more frightening about being caught in last season's stuff!"

-xxx-

After that we went to Athena (skipping Artemis, because the Huntresses were in Detroit, Apollo told me,) Demeter (who was giving out popcorn-balls. There's always that _one_ house that feels the need to be healthy,) Hera was empty, as usual, and Jason was out with Leo and Piper, so the Zeus cabin had only a bowl of candy left on the front step. It didn't have a 'take one' sign, so we took as many as we wanted. We figured it would only be fair if we took a few.

We went to my cabin, which was splattered in (fake) blood, with a few blood-soaked fishing nets thrown on the grass. Percy had gotten a fog machine, so the cabin was entirely surrounded by fog. A few ghosts of dead sea captains floated by (Emilie had helped summon them earlier, though she was a bit nervous about it at first) as we walked up to the front door. Percy was already gone with Annabeth, and maybe Grover, so there was a bowl on the front steps. In it was a mass of blue candy (Percy's favorite) and saltwater taffy.

A little ways off from the cabins were the woods, where the satyrs and nymphs were giving out fruit and olives. A dryad popped out of the trees as we passed her tree, and screamed, "Trick-or-treat!" and giggled as she melted back into her tree.

The first cabin after mine, was Ares, followed by Apollo. Both of them had haunted houses, and gruesome, bloody, scenes. Contrary to popular belief, both cabins had campers lined up outside the door. One Ares kid was promising candy if we survived to the other side. Pollux looked around, stepping over what looked (and smelled) like a decomposing body, "Who wants to give it a try?"

Apollo grinned, and said, "Lets go see if this is better than my kids'." It turned out really terribly frightening, and _then_ we went and checked out the Apollo kids'. Lets just say I'd rather not go back to either haunted house anytime soon, and I _like_ scary stuff. On the plus side, Apollo held my hand the entire way through, which made it (slightly) better. Emilie trailed behind us, staring at the scenes with interest (or maybe boredom.)

Hephaestus had a fog machine like we did, so as soon as we approached the cabin, fog rolled in. When we got within four feet of the door, a piercing scream came from within, and the sound of a chainsaw started up, with malicious laughter. It startled me, and I probably jumped three feet in the air, cursing. ("Holy Poseidon, can we _never_ do that again?") The Hephaestus campers who opened the door thought they were being clever. They gave us chocolate shaped like lug nuts.

Hermes handed us toiletries- I got a bottle of shampoo, and Emilie literally got toilet paper. Apollo got some stationary, and shrugging, he put it in his bag. Pollux and Paris both got orange water bottles, which Paris exclaimed would be great for their house.

We visited the rest of the cabins, where we got plenty of candy. Emilie, Pollux, and I did most of the trick-or-treating, but Apollo was enthusiastic about it because I loved it, and he loved me.

-xxx-

When we finished, the party had already started. Mr. D was nowhere to be seen, which I thought was kinda funny because he was the god of parties, but I guess he didn't like us _that_ much. Chiron was giving out candy on the Big House's porch, in his wheel chair, which I guess counted as supervision, even though a lot of the kids at the party (although not all of them) were old enough to take care of themselves.

The party was held in the triangle between the cabins, the forge, and the Big House. There were couches (kinda weird, I know, but it never rained, so they wouldn't get wet or anything) and chairs clustered around the area, and there were tables full of food. Some of it was actual dinner food, like pizza, and the nymphs were constantly showing up with new plates of barbeque, but there was mostly snack food, like cheese puffs and cookies, and sodas. Nico had summoned skeletal waiters to serve people, which I thought was rather cool, but it freaked a few people out.

Music was playing loudly, and plenty of people were on the dance floor. Some of my friends were easier to spot than others. Percy and Annabeth were grabbing pizza, while half the Hermes kids were boogying dressed as mailmen, like their brothers, earlier. One girl was dressed in a complete masquerade costume, and was dancing with an ax-wielding Viking.

Piper and Jason were dancing together, laughing while Leo was dancing around them, shaking maracas. All three of them were dressed very stereotypically- Leo was dressed in a poncho, sombrero, with a fake mustache, carrying maracas. Piper was wearing a really tacky Native American costumes, made of brown felt-like stuff, complete with a feathered headband, like from a party store. Jason was dressed as a Roman solider- in plastic armor.

The Apollo kids were in a group. They were all dressed as Apollo- except, they weren't the _same _Apollo. One of them was Traditional Apollo, in a chiton, another was Rock Star Apollo, with an electric guitar, and wild blonde hair, another was Doctor Apollo, in a white lab coat, with a pager. His name tag said 'Doctor Sexy, MD' flashing smiles at anyone that passed. The rest of the cabin followed the theme.

I laughed at their costumes, and told them it was clever. They beamed at me. Apollo and I parted from my friends for a little while to dance.

-xxx-

We were laughing as Apollo regaled the tale of the time he took Artemis Trick-or-Treating, "And she was just standing there watching me! So there I was, neck deep in b-"

Cutting Apollo off, one of the Hermes campers asked, "Who wants alcohol?" holding like six red plastic cups in his hand, because the magic refilling cups don't produce alcohol. Pollux shrugged, and took one for himself and Paris. Apollo took one as well. I reached for one, but suddenly, he snatched it back, eyeing me suspiciously, "How old are you?"

I crossed my arms, "Seventeen."

"Oh good, she's seventeen."

"Old enough to marry a _god_," I bit back, taking one from his hand. Emilie kind of shrugged, and took one too, watching as he sulked away.

My birthday was on the fourth of October. I'd sort of had a party- Apollo took me to dinner, to a nice Italian restaurant in Italy, then we'd come back to my cabin and eat cake (baked by Percy and Annabeth. If Emilie had tried to help, it probably never would have gotten done.) It was chocolate (I will never understand how they managed to make it blue, but some things are better left mysteries.)

Percy and Annabeth had gotten me a white summer dress, which Annabeth had obviously picked out, but she'd given Percy credit, since he'd probably paid for it. Pollux and Paris gave me a little box with keys in it- they were for a Ferrari, which they told me was now parked with the other camp vehicles. I laughed at that, which made Lou Ellen and the other friends who hadn't been on the quest look at me a little funny. Apollo had given me a gold mirror, which was magic- apparently I could see anyone I wanted to in it. Emilie had given me my things, and she insisted that she had something else planned as well, but she accidentally lit it on fire.

The five of us were sitting together, facing the dance floor. It was around eleven, which meant most of the younger kids had gone to bed. Apollo and I were sitting together on a couch, with me half on his lap, my arms around his neck. Pollux and Paris were sitting on the other half of the couch, their hands linked. Emilie was sitting in a chair next to us. Her feet were dangling off, and she was looking at the floor. She looked up suddenly, and said, "_Ugh_. You guys are way too... romantic, and couple-y, and it makes me _sick._" Her voice was angry, but also a bit bitter, and she stormed off in the direction of the Big House, a sour expression on her face.

Apollo's arms tightened around me as I tried to follow her. He was shaking his head, "Just let her go."

"But…"

He tapped the side of his head, "Trust me on this one."

I sighed, and kissed him, "Okay."

-xxx-

The next morning, Emilie finally reappeared. She came down to breakfast wearing a really tacky Hawaiian shirt tucked into her black skinny jeans. The shirt was a dark blue, with paler blue designs of wine and martini glasses, and tan liquid, and would have normally been way too big, except that it was tucked in. I didn't have any idea where it came from, because she didn't even own any button-down shirts, but a couple kids looked up, and when they saw what she was wearing, rolled their eyes, chalking it off to Emilie's horrible fashion sense.

It was late into breakfast, and most kids had already left, either the previous night, or that morning, because they only stayed during the summer, and they had school, so there were only a few kids eating. Some of the older kids hadn't even bothered to show up, plagued with hangovers, or relishing a chance to sleep in (they said all activities were canceled the day following Halloween, to give us a chance to clean up the cabins, and take everything down.) Chiron hadn't even shown up, although I guessed that less had to do with alcohol than with the kids that needed help leaving. Since no one cared, Pollux and I sat together.

Emilie stood on her tiptoes, grabbing a plate of waffles from the nymph who was flitting around the room, asking if anyone wanted seconds. She made her way over to my table, where we were sitting, and plopped down across from us.

Smothering her waffles in syrup, not looking at us, she stated, "Well, last night was fun. Oh, also, had sex."

I looked her over, while next to me Pollux chocked on his toast, "You- you did the thing!"

"I did the do."

"Actually," I said, not quite understanding what they were going on about, "you did the done." Because, like, she'd already done it. Her having sex had been it the past, so it was _done_. Get it? I'm really not very funny. "But wait, what are you guys talking about?" I was oblivious.

"Mr. D and I- well we-"

"What did you _do_?"

Emilie just looked at me, "What did I just say? We had _sex, _Elena." Her tone wasn't very harsh though, because she was in an incredibly good mood.

It was my turn to choke on breakfast. Pollux patted me on the back was it went down, and when I finally could speak again, I rolled my eyes and said, "Finally."

"What- you knew about this?"

"And what are you _wearing_?" I asked.

"Mr. D's shirt."

"Oh my gods, _you're wearing his shirt_," I blurted. She shrugged. "That doesn't explain why you're wearing it. You had the choice of _not wearing it_. And you chose to wear it. _Why_."

She looked me in the eyes, "It's a souvenir!" She looked towards the head table, where Mr. D suddenly was, looking at her with wide eyes.

-xxx-

**I wanted to post this before I had to leave! I'm probably going to be spending most of winter break in places where I don't have internet- which means I can type, but I can't post anything. **


	18. I make friends with a fountain

With Halloween and my birthday over with, the days of fall were getting shorter and colder, even with the magic climate control. Over Thanksgiving, we all thanked Demeter (even if she couldn't really hear us all the way down in the underworld.) The builders had finished the city the week before, but the official, grand opening and naming of the city was December third, which also happened to be the birthday of one of the year-round campers, a son of Ares, Red Venn. Considering how many kids we had at camp, having birthdays collide with important holidays wasn't really a rare thing. The patron god of the city was going to be decided (well, it was already decided on Olympus, but none of the gods would tell us anything- even Apollo, who told me it was going to be a surprise,) the city named, and even though most people had been moving their things in for weeks, ever since their individual homes or apartments had been finished, they were going to get the A-okay to move in. Officially.

We were all gathered around the city's gate in anticipation. It was rather cold, so we were all bundled up in long sleeves and scarves. Percy was practically rocking back and forth, wearing one of his many, somewhat hideous, Christmas sweaters. The one he wore that particular day wasn't too bad, but it was a navy blue, with red and white reindeer patterns. Annabeth had given it to him- she'd made it herself, since one of her mother's realms was crafts. It turned out, however, that knitting wasn't one of _Annabeth's _strong points- and she'd thought it was gorgeous, therefore _Percy_ thought it was gorgeous. He was watching Annabeth, who _wasn't_ (she would kill me if I said she was) fidgeting, standing next to a beaming Jake Mason. As the head of the Athena cabin (although not for much longer,) the city's head architect, and one of the two heads of the project, Annabeth was standing in front of the crowed with what should have been the other head of the project, the head of building, and the head of the Hephaestus cabin, Leo Valdez- but he caught a cold (ironically, considering his fire powers) so Jake Mason stood next to Annabeth, as Leo's stand-in.

Emilie wasn't at the opening either, she was feeling sick- she had been for a while. She probably had the same thing Leo did.

The air felt humid, like it was sizzling, ready to _pop_ at any moment. A hushed murmur fell over the crowed, everyone was looking around expectantly, waiting for the signal from the god that was going to claim the city as his or her own. Suddenly, a flash of lightning temporarily blinded everyone, causing them to look away (except Jason, probably.) When we all looked back, a collective gasp fell over the crowed. Exactly where the lighting struck was a white wooden sign, with the gold-plated words WELCOME TO OLYMPIA in English, and then below it, the same words, only smaller, in Greek. On either side of the words were lightning bolts.

Jake Mason stood and glanced at Annabeth, who nodded. He stepped forward, and looking towards everyone who had gathered for the opening ceremonies- which was a little more than half the camp- and said, "Welcome to Olympia, as it now seems our great city is called! Zeus, Lord of the Skies, has become our city's patron god."

Annabeth stepped forward, next to Jake, "As Jake said, the city is now called Olympia, but it never would have been completed without the had work of all the Cyclops, undead builders, and the campers in both my cabin and Jake's, as well as many other individuals, who worked long hours and sacrificed many days to finish the city on time. Lets have a round of applause for everyone who worked to build Olympia!"

-xxx-

Olympia was a combination of an ancient Greek and a modern city. It should have been really weird, but it was beautiful. In the town square in the center of the city, was a white stone fountain that spurted constant streams of water. On top of the fountain was a stone statue of Castalia, the goddess of fountains. She looks just like a Greek statue, dressed in a chiton, sitting on her side, propped up on one hand, but she's a type of automaton who sits and waves, and chats with passing people. Her actual purpose, Jake explained, is giving directions and locating people, but that doesn't stop her being chatty with people. She was created by the Hephaestus cabin one long week with a blessing of Hephaestus.

She waved to me when I passed, and called out, "Hello! What's your name?"

I cupped my hands around my mouth and called back, "Elena!"

"I'm Castalia!"

Surrounding the fountain was the _agora_, where town's official buildings, like the _bouleterion_, the place where the town counsel meets, and other buildings like that, were. There was also a post office, for shipping both magical and mortal items, which the Stolls were going to be running. The _agora _was also the marketplace, which was in the center of the official buildings. The market was going to be held every Thursday around the fountain.

Outside of the _agora_ were the regular shops, like a Starbucks and a café, along with boutiques and grocery stores, among others, that demigods were opening. Above several of the shops were apartments, where the shop owners would be living. Now that a city had been erected, mortals would be allowed to live within the city as well- clear-sighted mortals and the family members (like parents, siblings, or spouses) of demigods.

Towards the rear of the city there was a college, where Annabeth and a few other demigods would be going, and a library that was blessed by Athena herself. Several clear-sighted mortals had agreed to come to the city to be professors, and a few older demigods that were witty enough to survive would be returning as well. Next to the library was an empty lot where the temple of the patron god was going to be built. It was left empty, since virtually any god could have claimed the city. Annabeth was going to get to work on designing it when everyone got settled in- if she hadn't already.

The residential sections was rather eclectic. Most of the homes were Greek architecture, but a few of them borrowed from other styles. Annabeth had talked for nearly an hour a few weeks before about the different periods they were borrowing from.

After exploring the city for a little while, I went to check out my brother's apartment. I checked the address they had given me, and after getting a little lost, I managed to find it, with the help of Castalia the Fountain.

Upon arriving, Percy and Annabeth gave me the grand tour. Their apartment was designed by Annabeth herself, in the classic Greek style. The outside was a stark white, square building, with large rectangular windows. The windows each had a singular pane of glass, which swung outwards to open. On each windowsill was a flower box, in which were overflowing orange flowers, that had vines crawling out of the box. Inside, there were three bedrooms upstairs- the master was on the far left, with a larger bathroom. The bedroom had a little balcony that peered over the street. Sharing a smaller bathroom was two smaller bedrooms on the opposite side. They were both going to be guest rooms until Percy and Annabeth decided they wanted children. On the lower floor was the living room on the right of the entryway, the dining room and kitchen to the left. Behind the stairs was the library and study. Out back, there was a miniature armory- it held all of both of their armor, and all of the weapons Annabeth had collected over the years.

Little had been unpacked, since Percy's mom and Annabeth's dad were still sending boxes from their homes outside camp. Their parents would have sent them sooner, but they wouldn't have had anywhere to put them. Setting a box down, Annabeth huffed and wiped her brow. Percy came in the doorway a moment later, carrying so many boxes all we could see of him was his legs. He put the boxes down on the glass coffee table, and stood up.

He grinned, "Isn't it beautiful?" pulling Annabeth closer to him. He kissed the side of her head, and then said, "Now who wants to go pick out a Christmas tree? I need somewhere to put the presents my mom and Paul sent."

-xxx-

After we located and chopped down a suitable Christmas tree (after getting the blessing of nearby dryads) and set it up in the living room next to the sheet-covered sofas that the Cyclopes had delivered while we were out, I left Percy and Annabeth decorating the tree to go check on Emilie. It was mid afternoon, and if she felt well enough like she had been in the previous afternoons, we had promised Pollux that we would go visit him is his new house. I'd passed it a few times while looking for Percy's place- a steady stream of cyclopes leading in and out of the house carrying large pieces of furniture with Paris loudly directing everyone, and a long-suffering Pollux rolling his eyes from the window- but Emilie had explicitly told me _not_ to go without her, and I had to get to Percy's anyway.

Most of camp was deserted, with the campers either in the city or in their cabins. I spotted a few Ares kids napping with their cabin's door open. It was mid afternoon when I got to Emilie's cabin. I knocked on the door. She called weakly, "Come in!" She was lying face down on her bed, and when I walked in, I could have sworn the temperature dropped another ten degrees. The Hades cabin was _freezing_. She groaned as I got close. "I _hate _being sick."

"Do you feel well enough to go see Pollux's house? It's massive."

"Yep," she said, standing up. Her face went pale, and she squeaked, "No, wait, maybe not," and leaned over the side of the bed and threw up (hopefully) into a bucket. She wiped off her mouth, and drank some of the water on the side tabled, and said, "Okay now I'm ready."

I eyed her pale form, but then again she was always pale, so I let her come. Not that I could have stopped her, anyway.

We walked the trek back into the city, and once we got there, Emilie took a look around. Castalia waved to us.

"What's that?" Emilie asked, pointing to the fountain.

"How rude! I'm a _who_, not a what!" Castalia said, offended, putting her hands on her hips. The color that was returning to Emilie's features after walking around in the cool air drained from her features.

"Um, sorry," she said, glancing between the fountain and me.

I rolled my eyes, "She a fountain, she's not going to hurt you," I said. Castalia narrowed her eyes pointedly at me.

"I'm Castalia, and I could be dangerous, thank you very much!" she said.

I nodded, "Oh yes, very dangerous."

She seemed pleased, nodding and settling down with a huff. "Now, what can I help you with?"

"Where's Pollux and Paris's house?" Emilie asked.

"Oh that big thing?" she said, "You can see that for miles away! It's just past the grocery store owned by Katie Gardener- Grocer Goods- take the next right, and then it should be three houses to the right. Although I don't know why anyone needs _my_ help to find it."

"It's because you're so helpful," I said, dragging Emilie away before Castalia would have a chance to chat her ear off. Castalia looked pleased as we left.

We found Katie's grocer easily enough, and she waved from where she was putting out tomatoes (everything was in season if you were a child of Demeter) while her boyfriend was sweeping the doorstep. I saw a few people I knew inside, and a few I didn't, shopping for things they needed for their new homes. We found the turn Castalia was talking about, and Pollux's house _was _easy to spot. It was a massive two-story mansion, with wide pillars and a pointed roof. There were wide white stairs, and flowerboxes blooming with flowers. The amount of cyclopes had dwindled to a small group standing around a moving van, with Paris somewhere in between them, as we could hear his voice directing the group. Pollux was still in the upstairs window, leaning on his arm, looking out over the city. He looked down and spotted us, and stood up, excited. He disappeared from the window, and then reappeared a moment later, pointing to himself, and then at the way he came from. He disappeared again, and then flung open the front door.

"Guys!" he said, grinning. We marched up the stairs and into the house. Pollux turned to Paris, who was blowing him kisses, and rolled his eyes as he invited him inside. Like we weren't going to see him blow one back.

We walked into the entry, which had high ceilings of marble, and bronze vases flanking the doorway. From there we could see the stairs, and carpet upstairs, and the door to whatever room Pollux had been in before we arrived.

"Wow, nice place," Emilie said, breaking the silence, looking around. It still looked rather empty, but that was nothing a trip to Ikea couldn't fix. And there was still stuff in the lone moving van.

"I know right?" he said, grinning. I wouldn't have thought it before, but Pollux looked at ease in a large house. "I'll give you guys the tour in a minute," we nodded, and he looked at Emilie, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. I promise I won't throw up on anything you own."

"_Not_ what I meant, but," he said, "What about Paris' stuff?"

"What is with these promises? I can't do it. Stars. Not in position. Not today."

-xxx-

It smelled like Christmas. Even though we didn't actually celebrate religious holidays, Christmas always an exception. Cabins were strung up with floating lights, and Christmas and pine trees were decorated all around camp. My cabin had little balls of blue fire over the door on the outside, but it felt kinda lonely. Percy was no longer in the cabin, so it was just me. I get how he felt for those years he was alone. He and Annabeth set up a Christmas tree in their apartment, and told me I could visit any time, but it still felt rather lonely, even though they'd only been gone twelve days. Some demigods had gotten out of school early for Christmas break, so there were about seventy or eighty kids running around camp. Mr. D had permitted it to snow- probably on account of Emilie, since Christmas was her favorite time of year- so campers were marching around in the lightly falling snow, as it was crunching under their feet. Apollo kids had taken up a snowball fight with Ares kids, and a few other demigods were being pelted as they passed.

I was sitting on the porch of the Big House with Pollux, with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands. Floating above our heads were red and yellow balls of fire for Christmas. Chiron and Mr. D were playing pinochle a few feet away from us, looking over the camp. Mr. D had a sour look on his face from something that happened earlier with Emilie. She'd run past me earlier, cursing his name. She'd been running towards the woods, and I hadn't seen her since, but she did that sometimes, and usually showed up again at dinner or the next morning. Unless, of course, she accidentally shadow traveled again- _that _didn't turn out well, and she went missing for days. Chiron wasn't too concerned, campers tended to disappear occasionally.

Chiron had his own steaming cup of hot chocolate, but it was abandoned on the table next to him. He was sitting in his wheel chair, and on his lap was a blanket to keep himself warm. Fortunately, he looked like he was in a better mood than Mr. D. They'd tried to convince us to play a few hours earlier, but after two rounds, I quit. Pollux followed and so we sat and drank hot beverages on the porch to pass the time.

Technically we could be doing activities, like sword fighting, or I could be helping Percy unpack, but I had proclaimed it was too cold for any and all activities that involved me moving off the porch, because it was too cold. Pollux had pointed out that moving would make me warmer, but I gleefully ignored him.

I heard a shout from the campers in the snowball fight, "Man down, I repeat, man down!" I wasn't sure from which side it came from, because the voice was muffled from a scarf. I figured that it was a guy, though, although no one else spoke for another ten minutes. Pollux and I were chatting about the new Starbucks that Drew Tanaka had opened, when the Apollo kids yelled out.

"Hey, Elena! You're one of us now, come help us kick their asses!" one of the campers- Will?- called to me. From what I could see, they had built snow walls to protect themselves, but their defenses were crumbling with the amount of snowballs that missed them and hit the walls. They were hastily repairing them, but they weren't fast enough, and the snow would side back down.

"Don't listen to those weaklings! Stay over there like the little girl that you are," Clarisse yelled, as her siblings piled more snow into super hard snowballs. They looked rough and tough, bundled up in ski jackets and bombers, those type of hats with flaps on the sides that could be tied to the crown. They all looked like brick walls, stocky and wobbling around.

"I take offense to that!" I yelled to Clarisse. I put the empty cup down- I'd been finished for awhile- and stood up. Pollux groaned beside me.

"Help me up?" I rolled my eyes and held out a hand. When he stood up, he put his hands on his hips and looked over to the Ares kids. "They look like they're going to need some help." I took a step off the porch, and Pollux looked up. He called out, "Hey!"

"What?" I said.

He pointed up, "Mistletoe!" I rolled my eyes and hopped back up on the porch.

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then hopped down off the porch again quickly, and spun around to him, yelling "May the best man win!" over my shoulder.

Pollux ran and joined the Ares team, while I joined the Apollo team, and we played for an hour. During the game we managed to knock out four Ares campers, and they took out two of ours. At first, my snowballs weren't very good, then Kayla suggested I try using my control over water to make the snow stick together, and it was much better after that. Ares snowballs were rather painful, and I got hit with more than a few of them. But it was a lot of fun. I collapsed into a fit of giggles more than once. I hardly felt the cold. Pollux's cheeks were a bright pink, his curly hair held down by a navy blue beanie, a similar scarf tied around his neck. His long black coat was flecked with snow. I was wearing a bright turquoise ski jacket with a light gray scarf tied around my neck, and matching boots. The fuzzy scarf tickled my neck, and the boots were caked with snow. The down jacket was pretty warm, especially with the gloves.

Suddenly a kid ran through the midst of the game, leaping over the Ares fortress. Clarisse stuck her head above the walls, and got a snowball to the face. The kid had brown hair, and his cheeks were pink from running, and he was out of breath. In one hand he was carrying carrots by the bright green leaves, and in the other he had a spade. He didn't look older than twelve.

Watching him pass, I felt chilled, suddenly. Something ominous had- or would- happen. A snowball hit me on the side of my face, "I'm out," I said absently, "I'm just gonna-" I waved towards the Big House.

Kayla called out, "Another man down! ...I guess."

I trudged up the hill, reaching the big house as the kid stopped panting. His hands had been on his knees and he was bent over, dark auburn curls hanging loosely the spade on the ground, but the carrots never left his hand. I'd taken to calling him Carrot Kid in my head.

"I was just- carrots- planting because they- _I didn't mean to find her_- she was just- in pieces-" Carrot Kid said in a rush, waving around the carrots by their leaves.

"Take a deep breath and tell us what happened," Chiron said seriously. Mr. D rolled his eyes and lounged back, being fed grapes by one of the satyrs. Chiron shot him a look, but Mr. D just waved him on. Carrot Kid took a deep breath, and after a moment his face started turning purple, "And breathe," Chiron said. He let out the air and started breathing normally.

Carrot Kid took in a breath, and breathing normally, said, "I was in the woods, you know? Because my siblings," he blushed, "like to make fun of my for my carrots, but they're my babies, you know? But I was in the woods, going really far out, when I heard this wild laughter and when I was looking around for whoever that was, because I didn't want to be caught in the dark with _that_, I saw her. Or what was left of her," he shivered. "She was lying there, all torn up and bloody, and dead. I didn't know her well, but she was probably nice you know?

"_Who_?" I asked, and with a cold feeling, I knew.

"That creepy Hades girl," he shivered.

I sucked in a breath, and I could feel tears pricking in my eyes. I looked over at Chiron, who was looking at the kid with piercing eyes, "_Chiron."_

He nodded, and rose out of his wheelchair. "Child," he nodded to Carrot Kid, "Show us where Emilie is." He nodded, and waved us on. As we passed, Chiron said to the curious Ares and Apollo campers, "Kayla, Will, Clarisse, Sherman, bring your siblings with us. If he's right, we may need your help. Come armed, but not prepared to kill. And you," he called to the Hermes kids picking the camp store's lock, "come with us. We have a better use of your time."

As they scrambled to hide their tools and follow Chiron towards Emilie's body, I turned around, to look back at the porch were Mr. D was. He was standing on the porch, watching the group with cold eyes. His mouth was set in a line, and he looked almost sad. All of the satyrs were no where to be seen. When I turned back to follow Chiron, he was still looking out with cold eyes.

-xxx-

It took us twenty minutes to get through the right part of the forest, and then another fifteen to _find _her. It didn't really feel real until I saw her body. Or, to quote Carrot Kid, what was left of it. And he was right. She _was _torn to pieces. Emilie was sprawled out on the grass, torn open. I'd always had a strong stomach, but it didn't seem to be the same for a couple other kids, some of which who threw up upon seeing her body. Even I was nauseous. All of us had seen blood, and most of us had seen a lot of violent stuff, but this was nothing like that.

She was torn open, with blood splashed everywhere, leading in a trail from a separate art of the forest. Her heart was visible, and several organs had spilled out onto the grass next to her. Her blood was a dark color, it might have been brown, but I couldn't tell in the poor lighting. He rib cadge was visible, her bones, scraped clean, were a stark white against the rest of her. She was missing a few fingers on one hand, and- and an entire arm. One of the Ares kids spotted it in the trail of blood, and picked it up with his sword, holding it out at arm's length, holding his nose. Emilie's face was twisted in our direction, her glassy eyes staring back at us. Will walked over, and squatting down, closed her eyes, with a grim look on his face.

"Hey!" one of the Hermes kids shouted, "That squirrel has her fingers!"

The other looked up at it, and for a moment, it looked back at them- but it shot off, in the other direction, the Hermes kids stumbling after it. I let out a sob as the Apollo cabin collected her body. The Hermes kids ran by, yelling at the squirrel. On one of the trees was a bloody hand print- no- _several_, dainty female handprints all smeared in Emilie's blood.

Chiron was looking at them grimly with his arms crossed. I walked up to them, and asked, "What made those? They had to have killed Emilie. We have to go after them!"

Chiron shook his head and said softly, "Those hand prints were indeed made by Emilie's killers, the Maenads. But it would be unwise to go after them. They are violent and difficult to kill."

"We have like thirty people right here! They can't be that hard to kill."

He shook his head again, watching as they wrapped up her body. The Hermes kids were parading around with the squirrel like a trophy.

"They are Mr. D's followers, he would kill anyone who killed them, despite him not like them himself." _Mr. D's_ followers had killed her. Had he done it intentionally? I thought about it rationally, and he probably hadn't. He'd find more creative ways to kill her, like turn her into a squirrel and run her over with his SUV. Although getting his insane followers to tear her to shreds was pretty creative. I decided he hadn't killed her, he just didn't have a reason. His followers, the maenads, _were_ monsters after all. Monsters that I'd like to kill, but monsters none the less.

-xxx-

"We can't find Nico," Chiron said to the group that collected Emilie's body, once we returned to the big house with her. Mr. D was nowhere to be seen, and her body was wrapped in a sheet on the porch, for now, "Would anyone be willing to make Emilie's shroud?"

I sniffled, "I'll make it."

Pollux stepped beside me, putting his hand on my shoulder, "I'll help."

We got a silky black shroud, and had started the embroidery. We'd decided that she should have some color on the shroud, because for most of her life, she wasn't known as "that scary Hades girl" or as a child of Hades at all, she was known as my best friend, and me as her's, and more recently, as a best friend of Pollux. So color it was. A pink skull was out of the question, as was like, a blue skull, yellow flowers, or grapes, so we decided to embroider her magic sword instead, in purple. Pollux kept sticking himself, "Ow!" he said, sticking his bloody finger in his mouth.

I rolled my eyes, "It's not that hard."

He narrowed his eyes, "So _you_ try it then."

I lifted my end of the shroud, raising an eyebrow, "I am?"

"Right."

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, a flash of darkness, and suddenly, Nico stepped out of the shadows beside us. "Hi guys."

"You look terrible," Pollux said, looking up from where he was hunched over the shroud. He was right, Nico _did_ look terrible. He was paler than normal- or what was Emilie's normal, which was unusual, since he was Italian- and his eyes were rimmed with red.

"Thanks," he said wryly, rolling his eyes, sitting down beside us at the Hades table at the pavilion. We thought it would be fitting to sit at her old table while making her shroud. After we volunteered, a couple of Aphrodite campers approached us and asked if we wanted them to do the shroud, since they were the best seamstresses in camp, and it would look really good. But we were her friends so I thought it would be better if we did it. Nico looked over the shroud, and then said, "Thanks. For this. I don't think I could have... not with another sister dead. We're just lucky that..." his voice cracked, but he didn't have to finish. Lucky Hazel could avoid death altogether. And lucky Emilie had privileges down there.

I nodded, with a pin in my mouth. I rethreaded the needle, then finished the last few stitches. I smiled at him as I bit through the thread, "It's fine."

Later, we burned her body in the shroud we had made. The flames shifted from a black to a dark purple, with sparks of color, dark blues and yellows. A few people cried, and I was one of them. Percy and Annabeth both came, even though they hadn't known her well. Apollo came and wrapped his arms around me, staring into the fire. He looked like he had a secret, but wasn't about to share it.

Mr. D didn't show, which made me angry. They had a thing- I don't exactly know what it was, because she was my friend, but he was Mr. D, and that was really weird, so I didn't really want to hear about it- but if that was how he treated the people he was with, then I didn't know if I wanted him there. It was snowing lightly, her favorite weather, which made up for it a little bit, but not much. He still should have been there.

The fire cracked and popped, and Emilie burned away into nothing. That night at camp, it rained. It wasn't just a light sprinkle, it poured, the pattering on the roof lulling me to sleep.

And in the wake of Emilie's death, Mr. D became snappier than usual. He turned twice as many campers into shrubs, but slowly camp returned to normal, and my wedding was fast approaching.

-xxx-

**End of part one! The next chapter is part one's epilogue, and the chapter after that is the first chapter of part two! **

**Can anyone guess what's in the next chapter?**


	19. P1: Epilogue- Daylight

In the end, most of the wedding planning was done by Aphrodite and her spawns, with one or two of Apollo's kids, and the occasional demand- I mean request- made by Hera, her highness the goddess of marriage, so the wedding was bound to be spectacular. I hadn't seen hardly anything, but the wedding was scheduled to start in an hour, and I was sitting in my underwear, a lacy thing Aphrodite had given me with a wink, with people cooing over me while doing my hair and make up. It was May 8th, in the early afternoon. I had started letting my hair grow out, where it was a little past my ears, curling at the tips, and blooming flowers pinned to one side. My make up was light, with pink blush and red lips contrasting against my pale skin and black hair. One of the Aphrodite girls, Lacy, unzipped the plastic cover from my dress before holding it out to me. I gasped.

I hadn't seen it before, and to be honest, I'd rather been hoping to go wedding dress shopping, but it was beautiful, and perfectly in my size. The dress was a creamy white, strapless with a sweetheart neckline, and floor length with an asymmetrical waist, a mermaid style. It was made of satin, and on the left side, where the waistline met the skirt, was a cluster of satin peonies. A few Aphrodite girls helped me step into it, and were zipping it up for me when Mitchell, son of Aphrodite, who had been appointed as the official errand boy, ran in. He looked flustered, with his bowtie astray, holding a cardboard tray of coffee. Aphrodite cooed, "Wonderful, dear!" and plucked a cup of coffee from the tray with her manicured hand, smoothing his wild hair with her other hand, patting his cheek. He tried to speak, but the door of the hair salon/boutique swung open.

Maya was standing in the doorway with a clipboard and an earpiece, listening to it. She looked up at us and said, "The sedan chair is here, you've got to go!" she gestured to me, and ran out the door to finish conducting the servers and make final arrangements. She was a daughter of Hebe, and Hebe's children are the ultimate people-people, and a wedding planner by profession.

Kayla, in her light yellow dress, was standing by the door. Her golden hair was pulled to the side in a curled twist, contrasting with her tanned skin. She was holding a large bouquet of light pink peonies grouped together with satin ribbons. Aphrodite leaned down and kissed my cheek, and of course, neither of our make up smeared. She clasped her hands together, and said, "We have a wedding to get to!"

-xxx-

The entourage of campers and goddess followed the sedan chair I was riding in that was being carried by Tyson and another cyclops. It was draped with silk ribbons and flowers, the curtains pulled to the side, so I could see out. My legs were crossed at my ankles to the side, and my hands were folded in my lap as we traveled up the cobblestone path in Olympus towards the wedding chapel. Olympus itself was decorated in white and pink streamers along the path, flowers were blooming everywhere, their petals lost in the wind.

Since everybody was related to everyone, everyone was invited, so the city was empty. When we reached the hall, Tyson and the other cyclops placed the sedan chair on the round and helped me out. Earlier, the guests had flocked in- on flying chariots, sedan chairs, chariots pulled by dolphins, pegasi, camp bus, and, memorably, via golden dragons. Most were still parked outside.

Aphrodite and her kids, Kayla, and any others who helped get me ready, waved me off, sneaking into the hall to take their seats. Waiting by the doors was my father, in a tux, rather than his usual Hawaiian shirt. He smiled at me, and said, taking my hands, "Are you ready, my dear?"

"Is anyone ever?" I smiled, and he chuckled.

"Hardly ever," he said, holding out his arm. "Ready?" he asked, and taking a deep breath, I linked arms with him, holding my bouquet.

Two men in black dress pants, white dress shirts, and black vests were standing by the bronze engraved doors. Either the doormen were stronger than they looked, or the doors were magic, because the doors swung open easily with their touch. The wedding hall was a wide room filled with white marble benches strewn with satin ribbons and flowers on either side of the white carpet leading up to the alter, a raised platform with a flowering archway, where Apollo and Hera were standing. Apollo- Apollo looked _gorgeous_. He was wearing a fitted black tux, and his golden hair was splayed loosely on his forehead, and he was almost literally glowing. He was beaming at me, and I couldn't help but smiling back, because that look was for _me_. He didn't look the least bit tired from the bachelor party he undoubtedly had last night. I, on the other hand, would have looked incredibly tired from attending my bachelorette party, but the blessing of Aphrodite works wonders on a bunch of exhausted girls.

The rest of the room was filled with gods and important people, and a couple dozen mortal demigods. The entire Apollo cabin had been invited, along with his kids from Camp Jupiter, all of the Aphrodite cabin who helped plan the wedding, Percy and Annabeth, and a few of my other demigod friends, like Lou Ellen, and Pollux and Paris, we waved at me. Aphrodite was sitting in a stunning red dress, with her legs crossed, with Ares on one side, his hand on her leg, her hands on top of his, and her husband Hephaestus on her other side, looking gruff, wearing a grease-stained tux shirt with suspenders. The muses were playing the bridal march in the corner, all dressed in dress pants, white dress shirts, and fitted vests. The rest of the guests looked like something out of the Disney Hercules movie. Some goddesses, and one or two gods, had hats made out of real flowers. Some were wearing dresses made of moonbeams, others bubbles, or woven grass. A few gods were dressed in the latest suits, or old chitons, and some even glowed. Mr. D was reluctantly there, sulking in the corner in a fitted suit with a dark purple shirt, more on our insistence than any one else's. We were almost afraid to see what would have happened to camp had we insisted Chiron come, leaving Mr. D alone with the camp. The one time that happened, the camp was left in flames. The entire wedding was broadcasted live on Hephaestus TV, so anyone at camp who wasn't invited could see it on TV. Chiron, who stayed behind, would be watching it from the Big House.

In the front row were the Olympian gods, or well, most of them. There was a place for my father, who was walking me down the isle, but next to him was Zeus, then Demeter in a dress that looked like it was woven out of wheat, and Hermes in a business suit, checking his cell phone every few seconds. Hades was suffering in a suit that looked like it was made of souls, next to a bubbly Persephone in a bright pink dress.

As soon as the doors swung open, petals fell from the ceiling onto isle, coating the white carpet with pink and white petals. We started down the isle, and my eyes didn't leave Apollo's the entire way. Annabeth smiled at me, in her light green tea-length dress.

When we reached the alter, I handed my father my bouquet, and he kissed me on the cheek. I stepped up next to Apollo, and he took my hands in his. He winked at me. The music was still playing, so Hera, the officiator, cleared her throat, and looked at the muses sternly. They ended the music gracefully, and Hera smiled, and said, raising her arms, "Friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of Phoebus Apollo and Elena Westlie in matrimony," She smiled, and lowered her hands, "which is commended to be honorable among all med and gods; and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." She waited a moment, looking over the crowed, with a barely detained look of distain for anyone who would _dare_ speak up. When no one did, looking satisfied, Hera began the ceremony. "Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?"

My father stood up, "I, Poseidon, God of the Seas, and," he said, with a smile, "her father."

Hera nodded, and started the vows as he sat back down, "Repeat after me. _I, Elena Westlie, take you, Phoebus Apollo, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of the gods, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and cherish you for eternity." _

I looked between our linked hands, and then up at him. When I looked him in the eyes, I could see that he was just as nervous as I was. I took a deep breath, and said, "I, Elena Westlie, take you, Phoebus Apollo, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of the gods, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and cherish you for eternity."

Hera said, looking towards the crowed, "And now, the rings."

Hermes stood up, but Apollo protested, "Hey! I haven't said my vows."

"Yeah," Hermes laughed nervously. "We hoped you wouldn't notice." Apollo lowered his eyes. "We, ah, were afraid you might change your mind."

He frowned, "I'm not going to change my mind." As soon as he said it, there was a relieved murmur that came from the guests.

Hera smiled tightly, and then said, "Now, repeat after me. _I, Phoebus Apollo, take you, Elena Westlie, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of the gods, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and cherish you for eternity."_

Apollo smiled, and said, "I, Phoebus Apollo, take you, Elena Westlie, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of the gods, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and cherish you for eternity."

Hera said, looking towards the crowed, "And now, the rings."

Hermes shot up, "I've got those!" he looked down at his suit, and patted the pockets. "Well, I _had… _Ah! Yes, here." He stuck his hand in the pocket, and pulled out two rings. He handed them to Hera, who looked a bit like she might murder him, and sat back down, phone in hand. She cleared her throat, and held out her hand, the rings in her palm. With trembling hands, I took the ring meant for Apollo, and started the vow.

Taking a deep breath, she said, flowingly, "Marriage, marriage, _marriage_." She said a few sentences of just the word, repeating herself, and demigods looked at each other in confusion. The gods looked unfazed, but Hera blinked, then tried again.

"With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands," I said, placing it onto his finger.

He smiled, and taking my hand in his, he said looking into my eyes, "With _this_ ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands." He slipped the ring onto my finger, beside my engagement ring.

Seemingly pleased, Hera spoke, "By the power vested in me, by me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Apollo grinned and leaned in, reaching up to brush the side of my face as he kissed me. It was chaste and over far too quickly, but I couldn't help it, I was beaming, and people were applauding and cheering. He brought his hand down, linking it with mine. We turned to the crowed as Hera said, "I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Phoebus Apollo." There was more clapping, and we were about to leave, the guests started to stand, when she raised her hand and said, "But one more thing."

She reached into her robe, and from her chiton she pulled a single golden apple. A collective gasp fell over the guests. It was one of her apples of immortality, from the tree given to her by Zeus as a wedding present. She held it out to me. Gaping, I took it. She raised an eyebrow when I didn't do anything at first. I realized that this was my immortality, and that she expected me to take a bite. I brought the cool skin to my lips, and realized it was the most enticing thing I'd ever smelled. It was like nothing I'd ever heard of, and everything I'd ever want. Biting into the apple was easy enough- it may have been golden, but it wasn't like eating metal- and all it took was one bite. Swallowing, I felt tingly, but not in a _bad _way. It was soft and sharp all at the same time, and everything was brought into focus. It wasn't as if time had slowed, because it hadn't, it only felt like I had all the time in the world. And well, I did. I was immortal. Suddenly the apple wasn't as enticing as it had been before, and I didn't mind when Hera plucked it from my hand, making it disappear.

-xxx-

The reception started after the cocktail hour, during which many photos were taken of the wedding party (officially only me and Apollo, but Hera and my father, and eventually Aphrodite showed up. Kayla was eventually roped into a picture, along with a few Aphrodite kids.) I didn't drink anything, and I only managed to get one hors d'oeuvre, but I didn't really mind. A table was set up in the cocktail room of the reception for gifts. It was piled with many lavish magical gifts, some wrapped, and others not. Persephone was lurking around the table until she spotted me, walking over with Hades in tow.

"Elena!" she said, leaning over to kiss my cheeks. "It was a lovely ceremony!"

"Thank you," I said, smiling. Apollo was being congratulated by some fashionably dressed teenagers I didn't recognize, so I assumed they were minor gods I hadn't yet met.

"Oh!" she said, placing a gift on the table. It was a little black box with a dark purple ribbon tied around it. It wasn't made of lost souls, nor was it screaming, so I assumed she had picked it out. As if reading my mind, she said, "Oh no, it's not from us!"

"Then who-"

"Look, guest seating for dinner has started!" she said, pulling Hades away and into the ballroom.

-xxx-

After the grand entrance of the bride and groom (me and Apollo,) the toasts began. Percy made a toast, as did Pollux, Aphrodite made a short one, and then my father. My father stood up to make his toast, holding up his glass of champagne, and looking around the room, "Today, my daughter married an Olympian. I know he can be a good man, but like all of the rest of us, he can be ill tempered and unwise," there was a loud thundering from across the room, by my father chose to ignore it, continuing, "May they have many happy years." A few people clapped as he looked around the room, and then to us with twinkling eyes, he said, "My gift to you, my dear, is the tide."

As soon as he said the words, I felt a jolt, but it wasn't unpleasant. It felt like a missing piece had fallen into place, almost as if I had been hit in my chest by a ball of… light. Suddenly, I could feel the tides. I was now a part of them, as they were of me. But it wasn't just that. I felt sharper, like I never did as a mortal. I was no longer dyslexic, and the world seemed almost brighter, a sharper clarity. The music seemed sweeter, the flowers more fragrant. I really felt alive.

My father's voice boomed, "Hail Elena, Goddess of Tides." Everyone bowed their head to me, except for Zeus, who looked on with stern eyes. Apollo, from where he was kneeling, winked at me. _You knew! _I thought pointedly, narrowing my eyes at him.

_Well obviously_, his eyes seemed to say back. He grinned, and stood up, taking my hand as he turned to the crowed, saying, "Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. After this, we're going to start the dancing, but for now, lets eat!"

The reception was held in a ballroom near the wedding hall. The high ceiling was gilded, with creamy white walls. The lighting was dimmed, with floating balls of fire glowing softly around the room. The tables had long white table cloths, with light blue napkins and trinkets on half of the tables, a light yellow on the others, with groups of peonies as centerpieces. The food being served was whatever you wanted, and the drinks were the same way, as the muses played music in the corner. Apollo and I were alone at the head table, at the front of the room, with huge drapes behind us, being lit up a bright blue, shifting hues as we watched.

"How do you feel, Mrs. Apollo?" Apollo asked, nudging my shoulder.

"Spectacular, Mr. Apollo," I said, "And what about you?"

"I am fantastic," I groaned, he'd started _another_ one, but I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

"The wedding is beautiful,

But so are you, dear," I laughed- it wasn't his worst poem, I was just glad he was back from his sonnet phase- those took forever, and weren't ever very good. "Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

"You can definitely say that," I said, and turned my focus towards my plate. I, for some reason, was really craving pasta. I was thinking about it- fettuccini alfredo with white sauce, made with garlic and parmesan- and suddenly it appeared on my plate. It smelled as delicious as I remembered. Looking around the room, I saw plates of steamed codfish, heaping bowls of cereal, pizza, suckling pig, avocado salads, ambrosia and nectar, cornbread, wedding soup, and at least hundred other dishes that I didn't have a name for- after all, there were several hundred people who each had different tastes, most of which were old enough to remember dishes that don't exist anymore.

Apollo was eating pasta as well, a creamy dish with grilled chicken. I snagged a bite, and he stole my fork before I had a chance to eat it, "Hey!" I said, reaching for it. He smiled, teasing me good naturedly.

"Alright… but it'll cost you."

"Hm. Depends on the price," I said, pretending to be thinking about it. Then, I lunged, kissing him, and grabbing the fork, before he had a chance to catch me. I sat back in my seat and hummed, "Although I think I'll pass."

-xxx-

After dinner, we had our first dance. The song being played had come out several years before, but with the omission of a few words, it fit us almost perfectly. Apollo took my hand, and we stepped out onto the dance floor, just as Daylight, by Maroon 5 began to play. After our dance, Apollo- my _husband_- stepped aside to allow me to dance with my father in the father-daughter dance. When we were finished, it was as if the flood gates opened, and everyone rushed to the dance floor, for what they'd been waiting for- the dancing.

I'd just finished dancing with Lou Ellen, who came alone (she'd broken up with Alex,) when I accidentally bumped into someone, laughing. I turned to apologize, when I saw a young girl in a silvery white dress, her hair pleated into two braids down either side of her head.

"Artemis," I said with a gasp.

She took a long time to respond, "I came for my brother. I... I wasn't sure whether I was wanted," she said, looking down, for once seeming at a loss for words. I was still gaping at her.

"I-" I said. I hadn't given it much thought. But when I thought about it... I wasn't really all that angry. Apollo had told me what he had done to make her angry towards him and anyone he'd fallen in love with, and I was her retribution for a wrong done thousands of years before. "I'm not- I don't mind you here," I told her, taking a deep breath, "It's your twin brother's wedding, too. You don't even approve of this kind of stuff, yet you still came, which means you love Apollo a _lot. _And so do I. I want him to be happy, and if that means that you come to our wedding, then so be it."

"You're always welcome here, sis," Apollo said from behind me, "I still don't quite forgive you for killing Elena, but if she says she's okay with it." His bowtie was undone, still hanging around his neck, and his jacket was abandoned somewhere in the crowed. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he was grinning. He had a thin layer of sweat across his forehead, and he looked like he'd been having fun.

Artemis nodded stiffly, and parted ways with us, rejoining Thalia, whom she had brought along with her. The rest of the Huntresses, as I found out later, were at camp for the duration of the wedding, as she didn't want to expose them to her brother or love rituals (the wedding,) which was perfectly fine with me. I wasn't too fond of Huntresses, in truth.

-xxx-

"Settle down guys!" Apollo called. The final few people were rushing to settle into their seats. Apollo and I were getting ready to cut the cake. A few people had taken out their cameras, including Iris, who had been hired as the official wedding photographer. The cake was sitting on a frilly table, with two forks and cutting utensils. It was four tiers, white, with gold trim. On each tier was gold etching in center of each, intricate twists and turns. On the second to last tier was a golden circle with our initials in it, and on the top, as a cake topper, were peonies made of fondant, a type of cake icing, making them look almost real. Demeter was leaning back, looking over the cake, incredibly pleased- Aphrodite had commissioned her to make it.

Apollo and I cut the cake, and laughed as we few it to each other, accidentally smearing it on each other's faces. When we were done, we sat down with a full piece of cake, and watched everyone else get their own. When everyone was seated, I raised my glass for a toast, "Apollo and I want to thank you all for being here today to celebrate this with us. We might not have had a courtship like some of you," a couple people laughed, and I smiled politely, with Apollo's arm around me, "but we hope to have a marriage that lasts as long as yours."

Apollo said his part, and people clapped- everyone digging into the cake. I took a chocolate piece, and Apollo a vanilla. As soon as we were done, the single women- goddesses and demigods, pushed their way through to be part of the bouquet toss. I grinned at them, holding it in front of me. I spun around, calling, "Ready?" A cheer rang from behind me, and I tossed the bouquet over my shoulder. Turning back around, I saw it disappear in the crowed. A few people turned around, and the crowed parted, but it wasn't anywhere to be seen. Shrugging it off, Apollo swept me away for the garter toss.

The gods, being gods, didn't need any prompting. They surrounded us, and even a few non-single gods appeared. I didn't really mind. I placed a quick kiss to Apollo's lips before swooping down onto the seat someone had helpfully supplied. I reached under my dress and pulled the garter to just above my knee, rather than at mid-thigh, as it would be easier for him to get to, that way. Although I knew he'd somehow manage anyway. Apollo grinned at the hooting crowed, and got down on his knees. He hiked up my skirt, and took a hold of the garter, pulling it down and off with his teeth.

He turned around, and tossed it over his shoulder. A grumpy looking Mr. D, who had been shoved in the fray by one of the muses, found himself in the possession of the garter. I put my hand over myself, holding back a laugh as the group proceeded to pat him on the back. He regarded the garment with distain, holding it out in front of him.

After that, we had more dancing. A couple of the muses ended up dancing on the tables, and a few more notable gods lost quite a few pieces of clothing, the more drinks they downed. Soon enough it was time to send us off. Apollo's car was parked outside- although it was white, rather than the usual red. Taped to the back was a 'Just Married' sign, with tin cans tied to it. We climbed in, and everyone waved goodbye and wished us luck.

-xxx-

Apollo and I were sitting on the floor of his living room- _our_ living room, with his back to the foot of the sofa, and my back to his chest, our legs were tangled together. We'd changed earlier, so he was in a white tee shirt and striped boxers, and I was in a short lacy nightgown. The pile of wrapped gifts in the corner had slowly been unwrapped and dwindled into a pile of magical and interesting gifts on the glass coffee table. Wrapping paper and ribbons were strung all around the room, but at the moment, we didn't care. We were leaving for our honeymoon in the morning.

"This is the last one," Apollo said, handing me the little black box with a dark purple ribbon tied around it. It was the one Persephone had given me, along with the one from her and Hades. She'd told me to wait for last to open it, and unknowingly, I did.

"Don't you want to open it?" I asked. I could feel him shaking his head.

"I think this one's for you."

"Alright, although I don't know _why_ it would be just for me, it was _our_ wedding."

He smiled, and wrapped his arms around me, "Just open it."

"If you say so."

"I do."

I couldn't help smiling as I opened it. Inside, resting on a plush black pillow, was a familiar black hair clip. I removed it from the black box with trembling hands, and saying the correct words, the clip turned into a sword made of Stygian iron. _Emilie's_ sword. I stood up, shirking off Apollo's arms, although he didn't seem to mind.

"I'll be right back, I promise," I said, running off to our room to look for something that he'd given me a few months before. It was lying on the dresser, face down. I picked it up, and looking into it determinedly, I spoke.

"_Emilie,_" I gasped, looking into the mirror. She was sitting on a dark throne that looked like it was made of shadows, in Hades' throne room in the Underworld, holding my bouquet, with Persephone, snorting at the TV. But she didn't _look_ dead- Emilie looked healthy, with a glow of... a goddess. But her newfound godliness wasn't the most shocking thing about her. She looked like she was about seven months pregnant. When I counted back seven months I groaned, "_Mr. D_." When I spoke, smiled as if she could hear me, but I knew she couldn't, because the mirror didn't _work_ that way. Suddenly, she snapped her head towards me, looking me directly in the eye, and pressed a finger to her lips in a _tell no one _gesture, and the mirror went blank. I heard a chuckle behind me. Spinning around, I saw Apollo leaning against the wall. I pointed at him, "You _knew_ about this, didn't you?"

He smiled, "I know a lot of things. Now, how about we get to a better use of our time?" he said, striding over, then leaning down to kiss me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and into his mouth I said, with a huff of laughter, "Okay," as we fell backwards into the bedroom.

-xxx-

**If you want to see Elena's wedding dress, it's a real dress. It's a Sweetheart Mermaid Gown in Stain by Alita Graham, which can be found on the Kleinfield Bridal website. **


End file.
